What, for you, has been the best thing about getting older?

Life is great when you realize you are (still) capeable of surprising yourself.
 - from American Beauty


Let me be frank, I can't find anything being best about getting older in comparison to being younger. Yes, I do know myself a lot better & many many elements of life & living, I'm able to approach in a much more relaxed way compared to when I was about a decade younger. On the other hand, or should I say, the downside of being older & wiser means I don't get to jump boldly into ventures I haven't fully thought through, make a fool of myself & get a great laugh out of it. I am now able to foresee most consequences of my actions & acting out in emotionally immature ways have long ago become tedious. I am forced to raise the bar to keep myself entertained. I even prefer to know the other person well before I get carried away in the heights of passion. I mean, honestly, how boring is that?  And another thing, yes my face now has a lot more character & the lines makes the rain run off my face easier & going braless means pulling off the wrinkles in a flash, but I still like my former nickname babyface better than old cramp. An interesting aspect to pondering this subject, is that I do not feel older. I'm deeply puzzled when I nod off at 9:30 pm on the couch & turn slightly blue in the face when sprinting for the bus. Maybe my nature is permanently immature or my levels of denial are hitting the roof, I just don't get it that I'm actually middleaged & likely have lived longer than I'm about to in the future.

Ofcourse, none of this matters as I have also evolved into a highly spiritual person with such deep awareness of my reality, that I have lost any sense of time being fully immersed in the now. tsk.