I realise when I was told off as a child, it was for my own good, not because they didn’t want me to ‘have a life’. I have learnt that I am capable of standing up for myself and being responsible for another life, literally. Also, not everything is given on a plate.

I don’t really give a fuck what anyone thinks of me… well maybe a little, still, but I’m very close. :-)

I’m now at a stage of my life where…

…I don’t participate in or escalate road rage. If someone’s driving on my rear bumper, honking the horn and gesturing, I pull over and let the person pass. If a person cuts me off in traffic, I do my best to shrug and forget. If someone takes “my turn” at a four-way stop sign, so what; neither of us got hurt.

The smartest thing to do is let a crazy driver go ahead and leave my life forever. Problem solved, and my day will continue being good.

It took me a long time to get to this stage of my life, but I’m happy to be here.

I like myself!

And I like having the freedom to please myself most of the time and…

I don’t care, as much, about what other people think and….

I don’t beat myself up about my looks most of the time and…

I have great friends and a great place to live and….

I have good health and mobility and…

I am using my money to do some good in the world and….

I worked hard to get here!

Like @janbb, I also like myself, and I was going to say it’s because of the stage of life I’m at. However, that is not true. I know a lot of people my age and older who hate themselves miserably.

I’m grateful I really like myself. Solitude doesn’t bother me.

Here’s one: I’m at the stage of life when I notice that I can’t bound out of chairs. It takes a tiny bit more effort than it used to.

I have realized time is essence of everything. If you can time the things well you have achieved 90% already.

I miss my grown sons being small where I felt
they were safe and secure in my care. Everyone
I know it seems is having a baby and I would love
to go back to that part of my life. I have become
an empty nester and I hate it.

I can handle life’s basic tasks, like registering my car, paying my taxes, or cleaning the gunk out of the thing at the bottom of the sink after a load of dishes. I also feel comfortably independent. When I was younger I used to always be on the brink of a catastrophe and wish for a rescue all the time. Like I wanted to have a hot boyfriend who would give me rides home when it was raining, or find out that I had suddenly inherited money from a long lost relative. Now I’m actually taking responsible for myself, and it’s working out pretty well.

Things aren’t going to change on a schedule anymore, and if I want change I have to make it happen.

Unlike in school, I could be doing the same thing five years from now if I let that happen. It’s up to me now to decide whether I want that to be the case.

Also, I find myself valuing instant gratification less and less. I have my whole life to fill. Buy the seeds instead of the plant, then you get a few weeks watching it grow before you have the end product. Fills your time a little better.

I don’t know. I’m having a hard time adjusting to life’s slower pace out here in the real world.