advantages of growing older, or of not being a young woman

There was a feeling of freedom that I felt when I first realised I was not a young woman anymore. I must have been around 40, when shopkeepers started addressing me as "amma". Initially, I was taken aback....who is the old lady they were talking to? But later, I realised that I can pick up conversation with autorickshaw drivers, chat with shopkeepers, address strange men to ask for directions..... When young, I could never have done any of those things. It opened up a lot of this world's small, but interesting experiences....I had nice chats with autorickshaw drivers, long chats with shopkeepers, gave advice to random young men....
That is the reason that in my middle age, I felt liberated and a strong sense of well-being. It is worth the knee pain and swollen ankles, it is worth not being able to run up the staircase, and it is worth not being able to digest rich spicy food.