When these things don’t matter any longer… My weight, my skin, my hair, my shoe size, my eye color, my height… and what really matters is the experiences… the sunset and sunrise… and music that moves you.

When you give up finding a perfect relationship… and really truly appreciate the relationships you have… your Mr. Amazing… your friendships… your family that you never cared to cultivate relationships with before… suddenly feel like roots… and stabling.

When having roots becomes more important than freedom and whimsy.

When you stop watching the news and watch your kids… Ironic that this happens when they need you less… because they are growing older as well… and you don’t want to miss it.

When being right is not longer your objective…  being right all the time, and refusing to see where other people were coming from… It’s a great way to be a pain in the ass… So while I do stand up for myself now when I know I’m right, I try to do it in a way that acknowledges where the other person is coming from… I try to accept the other person’s input and background and I try to understand why they feel the way they do.Unless they’re Tea Partiers… Then there’s no hope at all.

Money… Popularity… are not things you measure your happiness by any longer … money is nice to have, when you’re already happy… If you’re not happy… money might bring little glimmers of what feel like happy. But when you’re miserable… a new pair of shoes isn’t gonna change anything but the space on your closet floor… Trust me… I remember when I tried that trick… This thing called Happiness as you age gets counted in smiles instead of dollars… moments of peace and quiet… a warm cup of tea… the smell of fresh acrylics as they are slathered onto a blank canvas.

And when your knees ache in the cold and crackle like breakfast cereal.

All those things