On Growing Old
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Expanding on Mik's observation that the alternative is better than dying. I replied that yesterday I'd have given him an argument about that.
Been thinking about this recently.
For me, one of the hardest things about growing old is how little your previous life prepares you for it. Almost anything that happens to you before you get into O country, you can relate it to something else that's familiar -- whether from your own life or a friend's or history or whatever else that works. There is a note of familiarity that you can apply that helps you cope.
After O, everything unpleasant hits you in the face. There's an unexpectedness, even though you should know better. You go, whoa, that's new . . . It's not that you've never heard of it, it's that you never heard of it happening to you.
Example from TNCR. The RIPs of people who you've known -- okay, "known" -- your whole life. As long as you can remember, they've been a part of your existential awareness. Often I read an RIP and go, wait, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Like it couldn't happen to someone just because I knew him. Tim Conway, Kobe Bryant. There's always an element of surprised shock.
Changes in yourself. Saw my hand recently and before I knew it I was going, jeebus, whose hand is that???
Can you relate? Or are y'all more philosophical about it?
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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Expanding on Mik's observation that the alternative is better than dying. I replied that yesterday I'd have given him an argument about that.
Been thinking about this recently.
For me, one of the hardest things about growing old is how little your previous life prepares you for it. Almost anything that happens to you before you get into O country, you can relate it to something else that's familiar -- whether from your own life or a friend's or history or whatever else that works. There is a note of familiarity that you can apply that helps you cope.
After O, everything unpleasant hits you in the face. There's an unexpectedness, even though you should know better. You go, whoa, that's new . . . It's not that you've never heard of it, it's that you never heard of it happening to you.
Example from TNCR. The RIPs of people who you've known -- okay, "known" -- your whole life. As long as you can remember, they've been a part of your existential awareness. Often I read an RIP and go, wait, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Like it couldn't happen to someone just because I knew him. Tim Conway, Kobe Bryant. There's always an element of surprised shock.
Changes in yourself. Saw my hand recently and before I knew it I was going, jeebus, whose hand is that???
Can you relate? Or are y'all more philosophical about it?
@Catseye3 I can definitely relate. Losing both my parents over the last 7 years was tougher than I expected, and I knew it wouldn't be easy. I've also become a lot more aware of my own mortality.
I'm not retirement age yet, but I can see it from here, and for the first time in my life I've come to realise that it might actually be a little challenging having no job.
As far as the physical stuff goes, I noticed things seemed to accelerate a little after I turned 50, and I started needing to be more careful. I work quite hard at staying fit, but still I get nasty little surprises from time to time. And 18 months from now I turn 60. Freaking 60.
I also look at my hand - liver spots? WTF????
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Expanding on Mik's observation that the alternative is better than dying. I replied that yesterday I'd have given him an argument about that.
Been thinking about this recently.
For me, one of the hardest things about growing old is how little your previous life prepares you for it. Almost anything that happens to you before you get into O country, you can relate it to something else that's familiar -- whether from your own life or a friend's or history or whatever else that works. There is a note of familiarity that you can apply that helps you cope.
After O, everything unpleasant hits you in the face. There's an unexpectedness, even though you should know better. You go, whoa, that's new . . . It's not that you've never heard of it, it's that you never heard of it happening to you.
Example from TNCR. The RIPs of people who you've known -- okay, "known" -- your whole life. As long as you can remember, they've been a part of your existential awareness. Often I read an RIP and go, wait, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Like it couldn't happen to someone just because I knew him. Tim Conway, Kobe Bryant. There's always an element of surprised shock.
Changes in yourself. Saw my hand recently and before I knew it I was going, jeebus, whose hand is that???
Can you relate? Or are y'all more philosophical about it?
@Catseye3 said in On Growing Old:
Expanding on Mik's observation that the alternative is better than dying. I replied that yesterday I'd have given him an argument about that.
Been thinking about this recently.
For me, one of the hardest things about growing old is how little your previous life prepares you for it. Almost anything that happens to you before you get into O country, you can relate it to something else that's familiar -- whether from your own life or a friend's or history or whatever else that works. There is a note of familiarity that you can apply that helps you cope.
After O, everything unpleasant hits you in the face. There's an unexpectedness, even though you should know better. You go, whoa, that's new . . . It's not that you've never heard of it, it's that you never heard of it happening to you.
Example from TNCR. The RIPs of people who you've known -- okay, "known" -- your whole life. As long as you can remember, they've been a part of your existential awareness. Often I read an RIP and go, wait, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Like it couldn't happen to someone just because I knew him. Tim Conway, Kobe Bryant. There's always an element of surprised shock.
Changes in yourself. Saw my hand recently and before I knew it I was going, jeebus, whose hand is that???
Can you relate? Or are y'all more philosophical about it?
Well, it's not like we really get a choice. You can either enjoy the time you have or worry about the end of it. That will come regardless of your worry.
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@Catseye3 said in On Growing Old:
Expanding on Mik's observation that the alternative is better than dying. I replied that yesterday I'd have given him an argument about that.
Been thinking about this recently.
For me, one of the hardest things about growing old is how little your previous life prepares you for it. Almost anything that happens to you before you get into O country, you can relate it to something else that's familiar -- whether from your own life or a friend's or history or whatever else that works. There is a note of familiarity that you can apply that helps you cope.
After O, everything unpleasant hits you in the face. There's an unexpectedness, even though you should know better. You go, whoa, that's new . . . It's not that you've never heard of it, it's that you never heard of it happening to you.
Example from TNCR. The RIPs of people who you've known -- okay, "known" -- your whole life. As long as you can remember, they've been a part of your existential awareness. Often I read an RIP and go, wait, no, that wasn't supposed to happen! Like it couldn't happen to someone just because I knew him. Tim Conway, Kobe Bryant. There's always an element of surprised shock.
Changes in yourself. Saw my hand recently and before I knew it I was going, jeebus, whose hand is that???
Can you relate? Or are y'all more philosophical about it?
Well, it's not like we really get a choice. You can either enjoy the time you have or worry about the end of it. That will come regardless of your worry.
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What's a philopher?
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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The reason why young kids think their parents know so much is because they intuit that their parents are more comfortable with change and the unexpected. I'd argue there's nothing new about that.
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@Mik said in On Growing Old:
What's a philopher?
A bald guy who wears tatty sweaters and tries to get your kids into Leninism.
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@Mik said in On Growing Old:
What's a philopher?
Um . . . it's a philosopher who's missing his
assS.@Catseye3 said in On Growing Old:
@Mik said in On Growing Old:
What's a philopher?
Um . . . it's a philosopher who's missing his
assS.So....
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I've wandered around hospitals most of my adult life and seen more people die than Cecil B. DeMille. And my wife has been from anywhere relatively normal to a wheelchair and everywhere in between at one time or another.
I'm familiar with old.
It's not the optimum, but it is what happens if you live long enough. Best advice I can give, is have something you need or want to do, every morning you get up. It can be a big project or a very small one. But get up and move.“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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I've wandered around hospitals most of my adult life and seen more people die than Cecil B. DeMille. And my wife has been from anywhere relatively normal to a wheelchair and everywhere in between at one time or another.
I'm familiar with old.
It's not the optimum, but it is what happens if you live long enough. Best advice I can give, is have something you need or want to do, every morning you get up. It can be a big project or a very small one. But get up and move.@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
But get up and move.
I'm not depressed about getting old, exactly. I'm just cogitating on aspects that are more difficult than I had realized they would be.
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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I've wandered around hospitals most of my adult life and seen more people die than Cecil B. DeMille. And my wife has been from anywhere relatively normal to a wheelchair and everywhere in between at one time or another.
I'm familiar with old.
It's not the optimum, but it is what happens if you live long enough. Best advice I can give, is have something you need or want to do, every morning you get up. It can be a big project or a very small one. But get up and move.@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
I've wandered around hospitals most of my adult life and seen more people die than Cecil B. DeMille. And my wife has been from anywhere relatively normal to a wheelchair and everywhere in between at one time or another.
I'm familiar with old.
It's not the optimum, but it is what happens if you live long enough. Best advice I can give, is have something you need or want to do, every morning you get up. It can be a big project or a very small one. But get up and move.Yep. Things that don't move stagnate.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
But get up and move.
I'm not depressed about getting old, exactly. I'm just cogitating on aspects that are more difficult than I had realized they would be.
@Catseye3 said in On Growing Old:
@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
But get up and move.
I'm not depressed about getting old, exactly. I'm just cogitating on aspects that are more difficult than I had realized they would be.
Years ago, I built a carport and storeroom onto the house...I cut the timber, helped saw it and friends helped me build it. Ain't no way I could even build the forms for the slab (well, maybe, if you held a gun on me ). Anyway, the old man that finished the slab, worked and rounded the concrete up to the backdoor, instead of the normal one inch or so drop.
He looked at me and said, "Son, one day you'll be old, too. Nice to be able to wheel a walker or wheelchair through without having to pick it up".
I wish I had been smart like that about the whole house.
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@Jolly said in On Growing Old:
I've wandered around hospitals most of my adult life and seen more people die than Cecil B. DeMille. And my wife has been from anywhere relatively normal to a wheelchair and everywhere in between at one time or another.
I'm familiar with old.
It's not the optimum, but it is what happens if you live long enough. Best advice I can give, is have something you need or want to do, every morning you get up. It can be a big project or a very small one. But get up and move.Yep. Things that don't move stagnate.
@Mik said in On Growing Old:
Yep. Things that don't move stagnate.
That's what I tell my wife about the beer in the fridge.
I was only joking
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@Mik said in On Growing Old:
Yep. Things that don't move stagnate.
That's what I tell my wife about the beer in the fridge.
@Doctor-Phibes said in On Growing Old:
@Mik said in On Growing Old:
Yep. Things that don't move stagnate.
That's what I tell my wife about the beer in the fridge.
It is especially true for beer.
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A couple of years ago I just decided I wasn’t going to do that old man thing. I keep active and busy and don’t think about growing old. I don’t celebrate my birthday since I treat everyday as my birthday.
@Renauda said in On Growing Old:
A couple of years ago I just decided I wasn’t going to do that old man thing. I keep active and busy and don’t think about growing old. I don’t celebrate my birthday since I treat everyday as my birthday.
Your time is coming.
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@Renauda said in On Growing Old:
A couple of years ago I just decided I wasn’t going to do that old man thing. I keep active and busy and don’t think about growing old. I don’t celebrate my birthday since I treat everyday as my birthday.
Your time is coming.
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@Renauda said in On Growing Old:
Am older than you.
Get off my lawn, youngster.
I'm probably the oldest person here (72).
What's pathetic is that your mind is OK, but your body says, "Fuck YOU." Going for walks, sitting on a horse, etc are so much more difficult than they were 5 years ago.
My health is actually pretty good - all issues seem to be well-controlled with medications, but the deterioration is relentless, and it really PISSES me off.
Fearful of turning 60 @Doctor-Phibes ?
I laugh in your face.
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