I'm not just growing older. I'm also doing something about it. I'm busy thinking.

Perhaps there are no other really positive steps to take. It's my only control over my aging.

I'd like to share some of those thoughts with you.

I have a number of valuable certificates. They include a birth certificate and an expired driving license.

The certificate that allowed me to drive is quite different from the birth certificate. The former one had an expiration date printed on it. I allowed it to lapse after moving to Israel. The latter certificate does not indicate when it expires.

True, we occasionally read or hear about people who can predict their own expiration date. I am not one of them. I do not know when my date will arrive - and that is why I am working on these websites now, while I can.

My thoughts help me realize some interesting changes that occur to those of us who admit to growing old.

A young person does not necessarily believe that he will live forever, but he does view his life in terms of the present. He only thinks about the future when he takes steps to assure that things will take place as he likes. He makes sure that people understand his position on issues that are important to him, and he tries to prevent or defend situations of which he disapproves.

I was also like that when I was younger. However, as I grew older, I felt less of a need to be concerned about or to defend my feelings, actions, or statements. People may say things that would have offended me when I was younger. With my new perspective, I no longer have to respond to them or to fight back.

For example, people sometimes give me advice about how to relate to my grown children. I don't feel a need to respond. My children have turned out well – and probably much better than theirs.

However, that's not the point. I do not have a need to defend or prove myself to anybody.

Some young people feel the need to give me advice about living, eating, dieting, teaching, or any other topic in which they want to show their superiority. Their advice is usually ignored – and usually because it is wrong. However, the fact that they proffer unwanted advice no longer bothers me. Let them talk.

Their blatantly offensive statements may be harmless, in which case I may pretend that I do not hear them. In some other cases, I suppose that I really don't hear what they say. My hearing is not what it used to be.

Some of my children, who are also teachers, are shocked by the things that I permit in my classroom. Over the course of time, they have learned to understand that their responses are often different from mine. They realize that I, too, acted differently when I was younger.

I have already made my mark and my reputation in this world. Nobody's statements, comments, accusations, beliefs, or recommendations can change my accomplishments. Yes, some jealous people may choose to besmirch or belittle my reputation. Yes, their statements or accusations may lead to unwanted repercussions. So be it. My best response in all of these cases is my silence.

Issues that now arise at work would have troubled me in the past. The educational system is not what it used to be, and I do not approve of many policies in some institutions where I teach. Some of those decisions make my teaching more difficult. That's OK. I don't respond. After all, my remaining years of teaching are limited. I think of it in the same way that I think of my expired driver's license. I can accept just about anything if I know that it has an ending date.

I can now remain silent. In fact, the less that I speak, the more that I can accept the unbelievably foolish and short-sighted things that I see around me.

Perhaps it is a shame that I did not adopt this attitude when I was younger. On the other hand, perhaps my sensitivity to these issues gave me the impetus to achieve the things I was able to accomplish.

Oh, the guidelines on this page do look good. However, I must admit that I don't always live by them. Sometimes I make the mistake of trying to convince people of the folly of their ways.

However, I always regret it.

And each time I am reminded that הכל הבל - and that I am growing old.