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The advantages of aging

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, or my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter stomach.

As I have matured, I have become kinder and less critical of myself.

I have become my own fan.

I don't feel guilty about eating a few extra cookies, or making my bed whenever I want, or buying something silly that I don't need, especially if it's a gift for my partner or family.

I have the right to be messy or extravagant. To travel to all the countries I never imagined visiting.

I have seen several friends and loved ones leave this world too soon, before they realized the great freedom that comes with age after 50 - some call it old age.

Who blames me if I sit reading or playing on my cell phone or computer until four in the morning and then sleep until noon? Or if I have traveled to South Asia, Europe, Australia, Japan, Dubai, Canada or the United States?

Who will mind if I stay in bed or talk all night or as long as I want?

I will dance to the tune of those wonderful hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s and, if I feel like crying for one of my two lost loves, then I will cry.

Whenever I want, I will walk along the beach in those shorts, too loose for my body, and dive into the waves with abandon, despite the judgmental glances of others who are younger and more dynamic. They, too, will grow older.

I know I sometimes have lapses of memory. My children get angry with me because I call them by the name of another of their siblings, but I think that with regard to some things in life it is best to forget about them.

I remember the important things.

Over the years, my heart has been broken and shattered twice.

However, God works with broken and mended hearts; broken hearts bring us strength, understanding and compassion.

A heart that has never suffered is immaculate and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am lucky to have lived long enough to have what remains of my hair gray and to have that youthful laugh forever etched in the deep furrows of my face.

Many never laughed, many died before they turned gray.

As you get older, it's easier to be positive and independent. You care less about what other people think.

I don't question myself anymore.

I have given myself the right to be wrong and to correct it with patience.

In conclusion: I like being alive and being the age I am, even though to some I am old. I like being the person I have become. I feel fulfilled and satisfied. I consider myself very loved, cultured, happy, wealthy, valuable, blessed, creative and the creator of my complete reality.

I won't live forever, I know that, but while I'm here, I won't waste my time. I won't spend my life just surviving, mediocrely conformist, getting fat and neglecting my existence, regretting what could have been and wasn't and even less worrying about what will be, because I might not even see it.

And when I feel like it, I will eat dessert at every meal. I will take care of my health and the love of my partner, which I hope will last from today until we end up in the cemetery. I will go to San Francisco with Olga, my partner, to Houston to live with the families of my two oldest children and my granddaughter, to Mexico City with Mariana, my daughter, and to León with Isabel, my youngest daughter.

Do you get it?

May our relationship never be separated, because it resides in the heart!

 
And if you are going through a difficult time remember this:

When you throw the towel on the floor, God takes it and places it back in your hands and says, “Don’t forget that this fight is between the two of us.” Trust in life, in the harsh reality, in a living God.

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Thank you for reading me.
– Dr. Roch