Birthdays

 Today I celebrate my 69th birthday, that is to say the 69th anniversary of my birth. So what we really mean is that my 69th year is now complete not just beginning. What is beginning is my 70s. According to everyone I know who has passed this threshold, things start to happen in your 70s and they are usually not the things to which we look forward. They are the effects of age creeping in and slowing everything down. They are disease and death. I'm not in any way trying to be morbid, just prepared. I am on watch. I am on watch for faulty joints, for an increased slowness in my morning walks, for wayward cells that my white blood cells can no longer fight off.  So as I look toward this next trip around the sun, my goals are not about finances, they are about longevity.  I still have much to do so planet earth needs to maintain its hold on me for a bit longer. As I step into year number 70, I plan to eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, take my pills, and greet each new day with joy and appreciation. Along with that, I plan to take the time for self care - for me that means to hold on to the stillness of morning prayer throughout the day, monitor the daily schedule and keep the pace slow. And much like I spent today, I want to take advantage of the beauty that surrounds me and go into the woods as often as I can.