Monday's are kind of strange days, aren't they? I always have this urge to write, but I sometimes feel a bit of let down from the weekend and not very inspired. Or else, I'm all excited from my weekend, and have so many things I want to write about, I can't seem to choose just one. Now, thanks to Bella Dia (whom I found via Patti Digh, at 37 Days) I have a new Monday project~The Encyclopedia of Me. A catalog of life, one alphabet letter at a time...what fun! Bella Dia's plan is to post on a new letter every day, but my thought is to make this a Monday project, so I'll have a way to kickstart my writing week every single week, at least for the next 26 weeks. If you want to play along, feel free to do so in whatever way the spirit moves you. Aging...not a popular topic among my friends and relations, all of whom are feeling the effects of mounting years. It's not all that popular with me, either, especially today, when my bones feel stiff and creaky, my eyes aren't working all that well without my reading glasses, my pants are all too tight. Frankly, I feel decidedly curmudgeonly. But I'm trying to have a good attitude (another "A" word) about aging. After all, I no longer get carded when I buy wine, I don't care whether my shoes are stylish as long as they don't hurt my bunions, and I occasionally get "senior discounts" on hotels and restaurants. I've also found I don't worry as much about things (large or small) and I get less irritated when life doesn't go my way. "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles Swindoll Sure, I'm getting older, but aging is only a small percentage of what's going on in my life. I have a great family, a couple of jobs I like, lots of loyal friends who are fun to hang around with, and interesting, fulfilling hobbies. So who's to complain about a few grey hairs ( I have a very talented hair stylist, too!) Along with age, I think I've acquired a more mellow attitude about life in general, and that's not all bad!