A letter to my 81-year old self

There's a video that's gone viral. It's a guy talking to his 12-year old self. It's kind of cute..and awkward. Here, you can watch it:



Well, this got me thinking. What would I say to myself in 30 years? What would I say to my 81 year old self - i.e. me, at the exact same age my parents are at?

Well, I won't torture you with a video. I haven't yet showered and I don't look all perty. But I'll do it in a letter form. Here goes:

Dear Karen,
Hey, how's it going? 81, huh? Can you believe it? Do you remember what it was like when Mom and Dad were 81? Do you remember those months that they lived with you? They seemed endless, didn't they? And yet, looking back, they were actually just the blink of an eye. Kind of like everything else in your life - you made a gigantic freakin' deal out of it all and, in reality, it was over fairly quickly. You were always such a drama queen.

The kids turned out pretty well, didn't they? All that worry paid off. Or is it that they were destined to be great and you just wasted so much time worrying? I don't know that we'll ever know. 

And aren't the grandkids AMAZING? Yes, you finally have grandkids, although  for a while, it felt like you never would. But that's just you - impatient as always. Both a good and bad thing. Good because you made things happen. You did things. Not always the right things, but at least you didn't sit back and never make decisions. I'm proud of you for that. 


I'm curious how your health is? You finally got healthy when you hit 50. (About damn time. What were you waiting for?) It's paying off a little now, isn't it? Too bad you didn't buckle down and read more. Your brain would be better off, but then again, that's more of that impatient thing again. The internet is oh so tempting. Too easy to check Twitter 50 times a day instead of reading a few pages of a book. Remember Twitter? Yeah, that was pretty stupid. So was Pinterest, but that's for another time.


So now is the time to relax and enjoy things. Enjoy the family. Enjoy the friends. You kept your friends, right? God, I hope so. Talk to people. Ask questions. Let people wait on you a little bit. You've certainly earned it. Spread some wisdom around - you've certainly earned THAT. Here's my most important message: I'm guessing that you have some aches, pains and health issues. Don't dwell on them. They will be there regardless. Fine, talk about them with the old people you know, but talk about young people things too. Be that old person that young people love to be around. Be the old person that still craves happiness - just like Mom was. Not like Dad. I know he couldn't help it, but still, make that your goal. Achieve happiness. You've earned THAT. 


Now go take a nap. You've earned that too.
Love,
Karen

Now that I've written that, it's more like a letter to my 51 year old self. I realize now, reading that, that if I want all of those things, I have to start now. Being a great old person takes years of work.

Better get busy.