On Age and Running ... Out of Time

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Pic by my daughter. Aug. 2011

Abraham Lincoln said that by forty you have the face you deserve.

Today I turn 48, and I´m ok with what I see when I smile into the mirror, dimples, crows-feet and all. I wish I had liked myself as much when I was 15, when instead I felt ugly and inadequate. Alas, The perks of youth are often wasted on the young!
Just in case I may be deluded, I ask my friends that if they ever see me wearing blue eyeshadow, black eyeliner and false eyelashes, caking on the makeup, teasing my hair and wearing leopard tights at 70, to please slap me. That´s what friends are for! Only Cher can pull that off – for now, anyway.
I don´t believe life begins at 40 or at 50 but I also know I´m not the same person I was at 18, 28 or 38. At 18 I dreaded turning 20 and at 48 I´m ok with nearing 50. In fact, I´m looking forward to it.

After my training run - Aug.25.2011

Of course there is a “but”: I´m running out of time. We all are. I suspect that´s the reason why I don’t watch TV. It´s a HUGE time-waster. There are so many other things to do; in my case there are books to write, kids to raise, races to run, places to see, people to love. My Spanish grandmother will be 95 in January – I need to visit her soon.
If I momentarily feel over the hill (like next to a 20-year old at a club), I remind myself that one day I will look back at the picture taken today after my run and think: “I was so young then”, so I better relish that now.
At 48 I´m running my first half-marathon in November … Maybe at 50 I´ll run my first marathon. In the meantime, I´ll take one day at a time. I hope you do too.
If you like this blog, follow me on Facebook or Twitter.Success Diaries will be a book (Diario del Exito) published late in 2011 by ediciones Obelisco.