Is The World Shrinking Or Am I Growing Taller?

I went to the Mall with my parents, and on the way out, I hugged them both close to me - only to realise that their heads are at the same level as mine.
Similarly, I went to visit our neighbours from Delhi, where I grew up, and it’s been a while since I had seen them. When they opened the door, I was surprised to find we were eye to eye.
I visited our ancestral home in our village, and the mattress I slept on seemed just right for me, whereas as a kid I remember it being this huge thing where I could sprawl out.

And there was a time when I remember looking up to them, holding their hands to cross the road, or simply jumping as I walked. It is nostalgic, for sure, because the little me has an onslaught of memories: staying over at their place for dinner when my parents were going to be late, my dad going to pick up Uncle during the riots, or simply hanging out there reading books. And now I am trying to come to terms with the elderly couple who move at a steady pace, carefully get up from the couch, gingerly step down from the stairs or need a magnifying glass to read messages on the phone.

I mean - I knew people get old, but like everything else in life, only when it happens to me is it real. My parents, their peers, are getting old, and I guess that means I am, too. In fact, everybody is getting old as well. One of my colleagues at work had a baby who has not even spent two weeks on planet Earth - even she is getting old. Buddha said that birth, old age, and death are suffering. Old age is definitely suffering - whether you like it or not, your body does not work the way it did. Just like any old machine, there’s general wear and tear. And I am at that stage in my life where the circle around me is getting older—it is a topic of conversation with my friends, and when we visit friends and family. It is a time of transition for me and others around.

Recently, the transition has come up more and more - not only in life stages but also in how I am viewing things. Maybe, finally, I am growing up by usual standards, even though I am still a child at heart. There are stages in life when these things happen - it’s like you go through a doorway, and things, people, and you are also changed as a result. Now, I have to adjust to what that means - the universe is a friendly entity, and I am one hundred per cent confident that it has prepared me for what is to come. The ripple effect of changes seems to show up everywhere - like recently I noticed that I do not have the compulsive desire to keep turning pages or binge-watch. There is a space between action and reaction that shows up everywhere. Thinking out loud, on paper - the last two years at work have been akin to alchemy at various levels - so the effect of transformation is to be expected, and that was the universe’s way of preparing me - maybe.

All in all, grateful to be becoming a better version of myself every day and inspiring others to do the same. How would you describe your life stage right now?