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Today is my 66st birthday and I wasn’t going to write about it because, well frankly, the less said better.  But then a friend sent me a little article that inspired me.

The Friendly Societies Act of 1875 in Britain defined old age at turning 50.  However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that 65 years old is still considered young.  They have broken down the aging process as follows:

• 0 to 17 years old: underage
• 18 to 65 years old: youth or young people
• 66 to 79 years old: middle aged
• 80 to 99 years old: elderly or senior
• 100+ years old: long-lived elderly

While I don’t think 66 is elderly, I think their breakdowns are not accurate especially between the ages of 18 and 65.  And here’s why.

Let’s face it – at 18 I could do backflips, stay up all night dancing and carry 80 lb. suitcases the size of Texas.  Today, I have trouble lifting my 15 lb. dachshund.  At 18 my skin was smooth, taunt and mostly blemish free.  Today it’s a sagging, crepe, mélange of colors, warts, sags, and wrinkles.   And that’s on the outside.  Most of you know the stuff that’s gone on the inside of this body.  There are changes in what you can and can no longer eat because it either pours out of you like lava or solidifies like cement.  Your hair is half of what you had or none at all, and all the things you did for maintenance no longer work. Anyway, you get my drift.

I think the WHO needs to revamp their criteria to the following:

• 1 to 17 years old: underage (learning)
• 18 to 45 years old: youth or young people  (still learning but think you have it figured out)
• 46 to 65 years old: middle age (Realizing you don’t have it all figured out and don’t care if you ever do.  “I yam what I yams and that’s all what I yam,” declared the existential philosopher, Popeye the Sailor Man.)
• 66 to 79 years old: mature (accepting life as it comes and living it with gusto)
• 80 to 99 years old: elderly or senior (Appreciating every good day because life is getting a little hard physically and/or mentally.
• 100+ years old: long-lived elderly (Lord, I’m ready – take me home!)

I don’t want to spend a hundred plus years on this earth because there is just too much going on that has me shaking my head in sadness and disbelief.  Besides, God only knows what another 30 years would do to this body.  Ugh!  So rather than get bummed out about life and my aging, decrepit body, I look to the funnies for respite.  I find it helps in weathering the body wars.

And in celebration of my 66 years I want to share what tickles my funny bone.  I hope it will make you chuckle too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So today, look for the funny throughout your day.  If you can’t find it, make it. Smile and get your whole world smiling with you.  May you make everyday a birth day.

Blessings for health and wellness.