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I’m 72 and Obsessed With Living Out My Bucket List

The list consists of one entry — put my darndest effort into living authentically each day while accepting my imperfection

Authentic Art
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age
6 min readDec 26, 2024

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photo by the author

There are many definitions of authentic self.

This is the one I particularly relate to.

My authentic self was born to be loving to others, loving to myself, and to be joyful.

There are those days when I’m super true to living out my authentic self. Here’s an example.

My wife and I discuss a delicate issue and I do a great job listening to her and being highly responsive to her words. It’s very different from prior attempted discussions we’ve had on the same topic when I’ve been short-tempered. My wife is highly appreciative and our talk ends with a warm hug.

Later that day, I sing in a nursing home (I LOVE singing), bringing wide smiles to the faces of patients who sadly don’t have reasons to experience joyful moments very often.

Then there are those days when 72-year-old me fails miserably at being authentic.

I’m snapping at my wife for the slightest perceived indiscretion. Followed by beating myself up for snapping at her…

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Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

Published in Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd Wright) Non-fiction pieces, personal essays and occasional poems that explore how we feel about how we age and offer tips for getting the most out of life.

Authentic Art
Authentic Art

Written by Authentic Art

Top writer in self-growth and inner child. I love to write because it gets me in touch with myself. Hopefully, it’s also helpful to others. So far, so good!

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