Today I feel so grateful for my age. I spent time with two very different clients this morning. They both are engaged in complex lives chock full of too much to do, too many priorities, too much to even think about. I am grateful for continuing to have meaningful work, to have the privilege of working with these people and others who, in addition to too much do to, want to achieve something for themselves and their organizations, in partnership with me. AND, I’m grateful that I’m not working at the pace and with the demands they face every day.

I’m grateful for the sunshine and the time to enjoy it. When I finished with my clients, I walked to my car in glorious sunshine, drove through some of the most beautiful city in the west, and sat at my computer on my deck overlooking that beautiful city and bay. Although I continued to work after I got home, it is not nearly at the pace I worked when I was 30, 40, or even 50. I sit in the sun and work, instead of an office with only limited access to the beauty of the day. I take breaks and often those breaks include naps. My energy is remarkable but it is also circumscribed, and today, I’m even grateful for that.

I’m grateful for this full life and for the energy and opportunity to keep working, loving, creating, and reflecting on what I still want to do and with whom I want to do it. I realize that at 65, and in this tenuous economy, I am very fortunate indeed to have both work I love and time for the pleasures of a more leisurely life.