If anything, I feel like I'm getting dumber.

I'm with Miko. Every day, I realize how much dumber I am than I thought I was. Did that sentence make sense, grammatically? Last night I read an article about the biomechanics of long distance running in a recent New Yorker. The very thought that there was so much to the absolute correctness of stride and swing whilst running was completely foreign to me. Hence, although I am slightly more informed about the subject, I am once again reminded that there are So Many Things that I don't even know exist, and that for those Many Things I am unaware of, there are Entire Schools of Thought to accompany them, which I am even more ignorant of. I grow increasingly humble concerning my own intelligence as I age.

If anything, I feel like I'm getting more cynical. What I've really "learned" is that I have no control over anything, and that enthusiasm therefore is rather pointless. Sometimes I forget this, but then I learn it again.

I have started to feel my decay, and I've realized that while I don't fear death, I do fear being forgotten; with the time I have left I've been taking steps to keep that from happening. That means time with my nephews, which probably adds years to my life. I would like that.

I've realized that while I don't fear death, I do fear being forgotten

This.

contexts define reality.

That yes, it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Clarity is a form of not understanding. Confusion is a form of wisdom.

I've made the connection between procrastinating and feeling wanted by the people around me.

I am SUCH a therapy rat.

I think procrastination was, for me, a learned trait. I remember not being a procrastinator as a child, and then learning about the concept, and then picking it up. On the other hand, maybe it's deadlines that are the problem, I tend to get more done when I don't feel a sense of obligation.