Today I am fifty years old. Passing into a new decade excites me. The last decade seemed to be one of recovery, dragging on and on. But today I feel refreshed, renewed, excited about the present, super excited about the future, and content with issues and regrets of the past. Everything about the past is what it is. And I’m okay with that. Now it’s onwards and upwards!

Last night my seventy-something year old aunt called to wish me an early ‘happy birthday.’ In the morning she’d be at the same grind working the same front desk at the same doctor’s office that she’s worked for years. How many years?  Too many to count. But she always says the benefits are good and she does have great stories to tell. In the next breath after the early birthday wish, she said, “How I wish I could be 50 again.” I jumped over the remark and changed the subject but the statement made me feel like I was 20 again when the world was mine; just waiting to choose what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be.

After we hung up I started a list of things I’d like to change and things I’d like to do. If you could be 50 again, what would you do differently? Please add to my list. I want no excuses when I reach 70-something. There are lots of us who need some good input and lots of us who will listen. Age and experience do foster sage advice.