[HoneyBadger]

I've lost a ton of weight since buying the house.

Now, I weigh over 400lbs, I'll readily admit, but, despite being a serious game geek, a pathetic gourmet food junkie, spending 40 hours a week in a chair, and having some fairly debilitating medical problems (I either have fibromyalgia or some other severe form of "holistic" arthritis, and a few other things-nothing life threatening though), I've managed to keep in relatively good shape, somehow. Enough that a 12 hour day of heavy lifting or a 10 mile hike is uncomfortable, but not out of the question, and swimming laps for an hour at a time is actually enjoyable.

However, I was shocked to discover the other day that I can actually (barely) see muscle definition in my gut, so I figure I have to have dropped 50lbs of fat, atleast.

I agree with Xietor-every year that I've been alive has been better, somehow, than the last. Even when it's been more difficult, it's been better, and getting older doesn't mean getting fat and soft.

Getting older...All you really need to give up, for certain, is your vanity. And I'm not saying give up your pride-I'm a strong proponent of pride and it's value. Men-and sometimes women, because society does make things a hell of a lot harder on a woman as she ages than a man-we do have the opportunity to become better as we age. More powerful, secure, confident, and certainly more knowledgeable.

So no, I don't fear getting older...I have qualms about it, ofcourse. The biggest problem I have with it is how it affects casual relationships, because yes, it's something of a caste-system imposed upon us. But that has it's benefits too, as unfair as the drawbacks.

I do fear the degradation of my body-even though I know it's inevitable, and I've known since I was maybe 15 years old, because that's when I started having problems people are supposed to have when they're 50 or 60, but it's a fear I've lived with for a long time. I'm blessed with a body that does have powers, and toughness, and my mind, soul-what have you-have perhaps benefited from what my body has to endure.

Life isn't fair, but that door can swing both ways, and if you can retain the essence of what was valuable about you as a person when you were young, and strengthen and protect that with the wisdom and experience you have the opportunity to gain with age, you can enjoy and be proud of who you are, at any age, and believe me-that is a really special thing.