Oh my. I am getting older.

It's not just the diet changing thing out of necessity as you get older it's a whole bunch of stuff. I was shocked to learn that people in their 30's are considering themselves as 'older'. It took me a moment and some head shaking but then I laughed. "Wait until you get to be MY age", I said out loud, to nobody.

There are some things that are difficult to deal with as you age and if you want to take these as a warning, an alert to prepare yourself, or just as something to read while you sip coffee then here we go.

There is realizing how much you missed and what you could've done if you took a different path. I sometimes reflect on how I could've been bolder and had a better time if I was just more confident.

Watching people leave this world that are younger than yourself. That's a tough one, especially if it's someone you were close to, but then there are those movie and tv stars that you kind of grew up with that are now gone.

I think it's possible that my 40's were my best decade, at least I used to think so, but time goes WAY faster as you get older. I'm turning 73 this year. I was 43, like, two weeks ago. What happened? It's true what they say about time.

One of the harder parts, internally for me, generally, may be regret builds up. The 'could've, would've, should've' syndrome is strong in me.

Regrets. Reflecting on all the opportunities you missed, experiences you never had, and decisions that negatively impacted your life and the lives of others.

Physically, seeing old pics and videos of yourself and realizing how gradual the change was that you never noticed how much you've aged.

I'm technically more fit now than I was 10 years ago. But if I hurt myself, it takes 10x longer to heal. Hurt my knee? No running for two months. In times past I would be fine after three days of taking it easier. Cut myself at 25? No evidence in a week. At my age? Takes two weeks at least to heal and leaves a scar.

In my world, there is such a huge difference in the person I see in the mirror and the person I see in photos taken this day. I think one of them might be lying.

But it's not all bad. Not even close. There's so much to be glad about.

Whether you love or hate it, getting older comes with several changes — and eye-opening perspectives that you can only wish your younger self knew.

You get to decide for yourself what's cool and not care about what anyone around you thinks, since the older you get, the cooler you're not, so you might as well just enjoy the stuff you like.

You care less about people's opinions with each passing year. It's great not to worry about how my friends will judge my clothes/hairstyle/music/choice of activities/etc. They keep it to themselves instead of spewing toxins all over social media.

Actually having money to do what I want. Of course, this is not true for everyone, but most people have significantly more financial stability as they get older. It's so nice not having money always be the deciding factor.

The best part of getting older is my life goals are a lot more fun. Goals when I was 20: Find a great job, make lots of money, find a great guy, and raise a family. Goals now that I'm in my prime: Drink coffee. Laugh with family and friends. Dance to disco.

Realizing at 42 that I was not in competition with 18–21 year old women. I know we choose how we think/feel about a situation as individuals, but the societal pressure is wild. And now, we're not just competing with the other women in the room; we're all competing with 18-year-old airbrushed supermodels all over the world. At 42, it was like a light bulb turned on. I can't compete with a young, beautiful, firm woman in physical appearance, and nobody expects me to. But a young woman can't compete with me regarding experience, self-control, and wisdom.

Getting to enjoy my kids as adults. Finding out who they are, who they are becoming.

Knowing your limits. When I was younger, I would drink alcohol because that's what people that age did, which was OK for someone in their late teens, but now that I'm older, I know exactly how much I can drink to avoid a three-day hangover and have no problem going home at 8 p.m. instead of 8 a.m. In fact, I don't drink at all. I don't do drugs. I don't even smoke anymore. It's a type of freedom you don't realize you'll love until you are there.

Gaining autonomy. It's a bittersweet thing, but making your own decisions is great because you either congratulate yourself for the good work or reflect on what you did wrong without blaming others. Or at least ideally, you do.

Self-knowledge and self-acceptance for me. Also, I look pretty good with a lot of white hairs.

Getting to decide what I do with my time. Video games after chores? Sure. Go ahead and chill. Spend the weekend shirking chores and cheat-eating? Don't need to ask anyone; just go for it. Feel like cleaning the house? Maybe tomorrow. Want to binge watch something on streaming? Why not?

So for me, the best part is looking forward.....