Flexibility

Merriam-Webster defines flexible as 1: pliant (capable of being flexed), 2: tractable (yielding to influence), 3: characterized by a ready capability to adapt to a new, different, or changing requirement.

With passing years, my body has gotten pretty stiff without the aid of alcohol. When I was a kid I could touch my thumb to my wrist. (Now I can see how really useless THAT accomplishment was. You can't do anything, with your thumb touching your wrist, because your other hand is holding it there.) I marvel at dancers who have kept their bodies so limber that some can, into their 80s, still kick over their heads. I'm ecstatic just to be able to lift my leg up to the next step, or still climb into the bathtub without having to use a stool. The only muscles I routinely flex are my jaw and my brain. As for being tractable, it takes very convincing arguments to influence me. The less-informed still think of this as 'stubborn'.

The longer one lives, the more one learns, and the more precious one's time and space becomes. I cringe when I hear about college dorms where privacy and ownership of personal property no longer exist. None of this for me! What is mine is mine and my boundaries are getting more rigid every day. Children and job require less of me so, while I move more slowly, I gain some free time. 'Free time' is an oxymoron. Time is NEVER free. It costs a lot and suffers many intrusions, thefts, and is often seized by people who have no business in your life. (That's a subject for another ranting blog).

However, as for readily adapting to the new and different...I believe adaptation to the inevitable is necessary for all ages to survive in today's world. I guess you can be rigid and protective about what is yours, but the world will not tolerate your rigidity beyond. You will be knocked down. If you can't roll with the punches, you and your rigidity will crack and break.