No matter what one’s age may be I hope, particularly for myself, that there are new things to learn. Recently, I went with one of my daughters and my senior-in-high-school grandson to look at a prospective college. It involved a flight out of state as well as a good deal of hiking around a beautiful campus. I did fine the first day as there were plenty of stops on the campus tour in which I could catch my breath while taking in what was being shown. However, as the weekend progressed, I found I needed to stop more often, until on the return flight home I needed to pause twice coming up the ramp from the plane to the lobby. At that point my daughter sent my grandson to bring the car around to the baggage claim area rather than all of us hiking to the distant parking lot.
Here, I will reluctantly admit, was my first reaction. I hated the idea of slowing anyone down, I hated the fact that I had to pause for breath, and I hated that I was being a pain in the neck to those around me. It could possibly be I was a bit crabby about this. Then, as if a light had come on, I learned something that should have been obvious to me from the start. I would happily have slowed down for someone who was dear to me and thought nothing of it. I would never have considered them a pain in the neck and would have enjoyed just being with them. In fact, I learned that it is much easier to give kindness than it is to receive it. I may be entering the stage of life where there will be more need for things to be done for me than was true in the past. And my only job is to receive these kindnesses, small and great, with as much joy as I felt when dispensing them.
This is going to need a great deal of practice on my part as I am not finding it easy. What it feels like is a loss of independence, while in fact it is just a lesson in (obviously) much needed humility. I will have to learn to graciously (the important word here) accept the help of others. But in this process what I must realize is that I can still have my independence of thought. No circumstance can take that away from me. I can still love, care and be interested in others, even if I can no longer leap tall buildings in a single bound.