Acceptance of reality. I have always been a go-getter, fit, outdoorsy, a builder (unskilled, but I do stuff like erect an observatory, mount telescopes and align them to the celestial pole, and use those scopes), built several model railroads, went whole hog on classical music and an extensive CD collection years ago (what's a CD?!?), fished, hiked, still sing in a choral society.... Things do get harder. I live in a house with adjacent firs and a cypress tree, each of which drops prodigious amounts of needles and cones onto my lawn and rooftop. Without a word of a lie, between now (September) and next March, I will have to get an 8' ladder and get onto our roof and clear out the 120' of gutters at least once a month. This is in the cold, wet, and wind of the PNW, on Vancouver Island. If I don't do this, the gutters will clog their downspouts and the water, also prodigious in quantity and volume, will simply run over them and onto the ground, wetting our shake siding and rotting them years before they should need to be replaced.

This gets more and more daunting. My body doesn't bend or contort like it used to, my grip isn't what it used to be, my balance....don't get me started on my balance, and it's the main reason why I know I'll need to pay someone ere long to get those gutters cleared....monthly.

This is just stark reality. Each of us will have a bill slipped under our door, due at the end of that day. There's no escape. The most responsible among us take note, take pains, prepare, and then hang on for the ride, white knuckled tho' it may be.

Learn to let go before you lose your grip. Losing your grip is a recipe for a bad end.