While I have no qualms about getting older and will happily tell people my age (33) there is an aspect of aging that kind of sucks… all the ailments and “health” issues that seem to pop up and be generally unavoidable. [And oh my gosh, now I’m going to talk about my ailments, call me Grandma Michelle.]
This is now one of the main topics of conversation when I get together with my friends – between that and our kids, we are pretty set, which is rather sad considering we obviously used to be able to talk about other things since the kids and health issues are relatively new to the scene. But that’s reality, we’re no desperate housewives. Healthwise, between us we’ve had two gall bladders removed, developed gluten aversions, wear hearing aids and have trouble digesting certain foods – to name a few (because the whole laundry list is just as uninteresting as the ones on this list).
As for me, I take iron because my hair falls out; calcium with Vitamin D to help maintain my bone density; Prilosec to combat heartburn and an ulcer. Not to mention Gas-X, a multivitamin, B-6 Complex and Biotin. I cannot see without my contacts, literally, I’m nearly blind. My knees randomly hurt and crack when I crouch down. I can’t sleep on my back because it makes my neck hurt and then I end up with the worst headache ever. I can’t sleep on my stomach because… well, that’s not a new thing, I’ve never been able to sleep on my stomach. The point is, these were things I never thought about 10 years ago – or even 5 years for that matter – and I kind of miss that state of unknowing bliss, when I took it all for granted because there was nothing bothering me (aside from my faulty tonsils that I got rid of 8 years ago).
But the scary thing is, in another ten years, I’ll probably look back at this decade and think that I had it so good. And I’ll probably be right. Because the odds are someone I know will get cancer or some other terrible, life-threatening disease and that is no joke. The problems just get bigger and the stakes higher. So right now I’m just going to be thankful for my little aches and pains and keep praying for unknowing bliss. Because there’s no going back and there’s go getting younger, despite what we see in magazines. But if I could wish for one thing, it would be for my hair to stop falling out because at some point, I’m going to go bald and I do still have my vanity.
ememby 
That’s a great way to think about it- not everything we’ve lost so far….but the fact that we’re babes compared to how we’ll be in 20 years. I’m hoping, that with this new healthy lifestyle, we’ll look BETTER and feel BETTER in 10 years than we do today. Here’s hoping!
yeah. i’m so old on the inside. it’s scary. i’ve kind of always felt old and problematic though. 🙂
I’ve always related well to people way older than me – my best friend when I was little was the 80 year old who lived across the street – I’m surprised I didn’t start complaining about my aches and pains way sooner!