However, I think that every year lived should be a celebration. It's another year that we have been exposed to new ideas and experienced surprising events. More importantly, I feel that my understanding has only improved with age (even if my memory does not always follow suit). There are times that I wish my past self had the experience and expertise that I have now as I would have avoided a number of problems.
Still, there have been some downsides to aging. The biggest one is the arguments that by body raises against just normal everyday activities, let alone more intense undertakings. For example, I knew I was getting older when I managed to injure myself while sleeping. Janelle and I have both been complaining about how difficult it is to sleep in when our bodies ache from lying down.
Still, aging is a natural part of life and should not be looked upon with contempt or embarrassment. We get upset when we imagine comparisons between ourselves now and ourselves in our youth, yet we forget how much we could not wait to get older back when we were young. In many ways, aging is actually freeing. We have a better understanding of what we truly care about and who we are.