I hit the big 6-0 last year. Turning 61 now makes it official: I’m off the chair lift, careening down the slope. No going back to the good old days of “almost” or “barely” something.

I thought about hiding my age, but realized that cat would get out of the bag one way or another. So I’ve decided to embrace it, or shall I say, parts of it. In a way it’s a relief to stop pretending I have 30-something skin, or run like a maniac ten times around the track. I know good and well I will never again have buns of steel, or perky anything. And remembering where I put my check book is highly overrated.

I’ve made peace with all of that. Why fight gravity and inertia? Let it be. I’ve probably been there, and may have done that, but I can’t remember. Either way, I don’t need the tee-shirt.

No more “shoulds”, and no more expectations. It may have taken six decades plus one year, but I’m there, and not going back. Freedom!

However, the part I don’t want to accept is the ‘old people conversations’ my husband and I have recently engaged in. It’s all about the ability to hear correctly, which apparently we no longer have:

Me: I’m going to look at that house before the movie, so I’ll be back in an hour.

Him: Bat house? Huh?

Me: Bat house? Seriously? Now ask yourself… Does that even makes sense?

Him: Well, then what did you say?

Me: oh my goodness! That house. T-h-a-t house for cryin’ out loud! What else?

Who am I kidding? I’m getting older and I really don’t like it. I’m not ready for hearing aids, and I don’t look good in spikey grey hair. Besides, I hate Metamucil. Apart from the senior early diner special, I need more good news.

This morning I saw this verse I’ve seen many times before, but today it had more significance:

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

And my heart said:

Lord, you mean something in me is not old? 

This verse says I’m getting younger inside. Not the foolish, reckless kind of young, either. From what I read in this chapter, it is a fresh, alive, vibrant kind of young. It’s the newness of Jesus’ life revitalizing me every morning when I wash myself in the Word. My soul doesn’t break down and decay or get hard of hearing. It actually gets more attune, stronger, and able to perceive and grow and learn with age. What is going on in the inside is the opposite of what is happening on the outside. That is good news!

So, yay! Take heart, my soul! You are still a young thing. I may be sitting down on the outside, but you are frolicking, and rocking it on the inside. You go girl! …just living the thing.