Aging gracefully, who says!

I learned a new meaning of “sweet” from my grandson. For me, “sweet” has always meant the things that put weight on my hips, the taste of root beer, or the expression on my little girls’ faces when they wanted something from me. But today it seems that “sweet” has replaced “cool” in the modern vernacular of teenagers. So when I think of aging gracefully, if there is such a thing, I say “sweet.”

The other day I remembered the famous line from comedian Jackie Gleason as his character Ralph in The Honeymooners, “How sweet it is!” For me, that always meant that things were going very well. So maybe this current tweak to the meaning of ‘sweet’ isn’t too far from Ralph’s gleeful proclamations years ago when life was rockin ‘with Alice.

This whole pattern of thinking continued when I recently purchased at my local Barnes & Noble a copy of Dr. Andrew Weil’s new book, “Healthy Aging.” According to Dr. Weil, we all begin to age from the moment of birth,

He quotes the words of an oriental philosopher: “The sun at noon is the sun that sets; the person who is born is the one who is dying.”

In reality, aging is not reversible. In this current century we do not have any miracle that will keep us alive forever. But on the bright side, his message is clear. At any age it is important to learn to live properly to maximize health and happiness. That really should be an essential goal for all of us.