Despite signs of age, I am overwhelmed with gratitude when I look back at my life | Opinion

Very often, when someone learns that I am 83, he or she will say, “... But you don’t look 83.” I thank them for the compliment and tell them, “The glory belongs to the Lord.”

Actually, I am amazed, too, that I am 83 and feeling like I’m 28. That is, until I get up to walk. Then I know just how old I am. The arthritis in my back and knees brings me right back down to earth and keeps me grounded.

Still, with all the nagging pain I suffer at times, I know I am a blessed woman. So, I really do give my heavenly Father the glory and honor.

I guess by now, most of you know that I live a faith-filled life and giving glory to God is simply what I do. That doesn’t make me better than you, or “holier than thou.” It simply means that I trust the Lord for my being… for everything in my life.

Having faith in the Lord is like having a good friend that you can turn to in the good and bad times.

Someone you can talk to, who understands all the little quirks in your life and will tell you the truth about yourself, even if it hurts.

Someone who guides you through the valleys and over the mountains of life.

Someone who knows I am not perfect, but that I am someone who strives each day to be a better person than I was the day before.

Someone who loves me in spite of.

So, when I look in the mirror and see this much older person staring back at me, I chuckle. Yes, the person in the mirror is old. But I don’t feel old.

I study the lines and crevices in my face. They tell my story. I see the thick mane of gray hair I am sporting these days and I am thankful that I still have hair.

I look at my body, which has gone through many changes, including childbirth, and is still able to get up every morning with renewed strength. I think about my “good” mind, and I am thankful for knowing who I am, and where I am.

I am thankful that I can do things for myself and sometimes for others, too. This is a really big “Thank you” to God, because in my mother’s last years, she wasn’t able to care for herself. I had to care for her like she was a baby. When I think about these things, I realize that my life is a miracle, ya’ll.

As I write this column, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Looking back over my life, I can’t help but think of the old gospel song: “... How I got over… my soul looks back and wonders, how I got over.”

Here I am, still smiling back at the person in the mirror and thinking of what I’d do if I had my life to live over. I suppose many of you have reached a point in your life where you think the same thing. But with life, there is no do-over.

We each have been given a clean slate when we are born. What we write on that slate is totally up to each of us. It’s like running a race, each runner in her own lane. Some runners seem to start before the others, but that doesn’t mean they will win the race. It is the way you run the race that determines you, the winner.

While running the race of life, we will make mistakes. When the mistakes happen, we waste time if we linger there, grieving over the mistake. The secret of a good life is to get up from the mistakes, shake the dust off and keep moving.

I didn’t always know how to do that and I have wasted precious time thinking about what might have been. Somewhere down the road I started to realize that mistakes in life will happen. It is how we handle them that matters.

So, I started to look at my life as my spiritual plate. It’s what I put on my spiritual plate that is important. I learned to “eat” happy or positive thoughts — to give others the benefit of the doubt, even when in my heart I knew they are wrong.

I learned that to be happy and joyful, I must eat a good portion of spiritual food — think good thoughts, do good deeds. I grew to understand that it’s what I put on my own spiritual plate along the way that has kept me going and makes me healthy.

So, I decided very early in life to make gratitude the main course on my life’s plate. I decided to have some side dishes too, if you will, of kindness, forgiveness, compassion and love for my fellow human beings. The more I ate, the more I wanted.

Life, with all its twists and turns, is wonderful. It is a journey that starts when we are conceived and the mystery of life begins. And I am thankful for my ride.

Life, with all its ups and downs, really is what you make it. So there you have it, my friends. These were my innermost thoughts about aging.

It never ceases to amaze me, this thing called life. It’s a great journey. And I am so happy to be on it along with you.

Bea L. Hines can be reached at bea.hines@gmail.com.