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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Happy Birthday!
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Hairy Biker
Shipmate
# 12086
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Posted
Another birthday in the office (not mine). More sarcastic comments about the birthday boy's age. More bemoaning the ageing process.
Why do we find it so difficult to celebrate our passing years? We clearly have a cultural heritage of birthdays being a celebration, but every conversation seems to be about the desire to stay young, to pretend we're still young or to pity those who are no longer young.
As I approach my half-century I find this attitude sad. Does the process of living a life not infer some benefits? Wisdom, learning, experience, that kind of thing? How can we celebrate the positive side of ageing without the constant "21 again?" brigade always having the last word?
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there [are] four important things in life: religion, love, art and science. At their best, they’re all just tools to help you find a path through the darkness. None of them really work that well, but they help.
Damien Hirst
Posts: 683 | From: This Sceptred Isle | Registered: Nov 2006
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I will soon be sixty-five and my body, for various reasons, none of them in my control, is much older. I am celebrating my birthday this year because I never thought that I would even make it this far.
That being said, none of this ageist crap for me. My body is older, my heart is still young. My party (still in the planning) will be a celebration of life and a look forward to more, with a spring in my step, so to speak.
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
Fear of death. Materialism, superficialism and no respect for wisdom.
Of course people want to stay young.
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a theological scrapbook
Posts: 9481 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2009
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infinite_monkey
Shipmate
# 11333
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Posted
I think it's the general tendency to not like the reality that all things have a cost. We'd like to get all the benefits of wisdom, perspective, satisfying memories, etc, but we don't like the realization that there is not an infinite supply of the years that bring that. Aging is, by definition, the spending of one thing to get something else. This bothers us.
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His light was lifted just above the Law,
And now we have to live with what we did with what we saw.
--Dar Williams, And a God Descended
Obligatory Blog Flog: www.otherteacher.wordpress.com
Posts: 1423 | From: left coast united states | Registered: Apr 2006
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
I wonder if in addition to living in a culture which worships youthfulness especially the beauty thing,there is also the challenge of negativity.It is so entrenched in some people's outlook and is often expressed in humour.
It is being brought home to me on a daily basis whilst living here in Kenya how different things can be in different places:firstly the wisdom of age is still valued here and despite the enormous hurdles so many people face, each day is viewed as a gift as death is a frequent event.
Choosing to live with a different outlook is quite a challenge as I too am now nearer 60 than 50....
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"It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
Someone told me 60 is the new 30. But I haven't had and don't intend to have either plastic surgery nor planting of hairs so the bald spot in the front doesn't join up with bald spot on the back of me head.
Recommended feel better song:
Bald Headed Men by Christine Lavin & SIX Bitchin' Babes on youtube.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Anglican_Brat
Shipmate
# 12349
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
[QB] Someone told me 60 is the new 30.
Honestly I don't know what people mean when they say "60 is the new 30"
"50 is the new 20"?
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It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.
Posts: 4332 | From: Vancouver | Registered: Feb 2007
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Fool on the hill
Shipmate
# 9428
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Posted
I agree. The past couple of years, when its my birthday, some friends make jokes, " happy 25th!" I say, I'm 47, or 46, or whatever. And proud of it.
Posts: 792 | Registered: May 2005
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que sais-je
Shipmate
# 17185
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
Fear of death. Materialism, superficialism and no respect for wisdom.
Of course people want to stay young.
I'm guilty of materialism, superficialism and having no (great) respect for wisdom but I enjoy getting older. There are many more pleasures to enjoy. I never expected to enjoy gardening, doing courses on subjects I didn't know I was interested in, playing with all our nieces' and nephews' kids, sitting in the sun with nothing which has to be done, waking up in the morning and thinking "What shall I do today?" then having a cup of tea, reading, discussing the day ahead with my wife ...
I can honestly say, this is the best time of my life. It can be great to be in your 60s.
As for fear of death, I dread the thought of dying before my wife and leaving her to cope alone slightly more than I dread her dying before me. If we could go simultaneously (ideally painlessly) with 'our affairs in order' what would there be to worry about?
... must away for a few minutes on the allotment, this long summer evenings are fabulous.
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"controversies, disputes, and argumentations, both in philosophy and in divinity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not infringe the laws of charity" (Thomas Browne)
Posts: 794 | From: here or there | Registered: Jun 2012
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
There comes a time when, provided you're in reasonable shape, every birthday becomes a triumph. You've made it this far and life is still good.
I had a great 70th party, with all my long-standing discussion group friends, several of whom were around my age and the others younger. For my 80th it was a family party, including the grandchildren and their parents over from Canada. Not a 'proper' birthday according to the kids 'cause there were no balloons or jelly, though we made a cake the next day.
Sure, not all of me works as well as it used to, and I try not to think of one or two things I won't do again, like tramping through the bush. But I still do my share as a lay preacher, take an enrichment group each year at high school (4 one-hour sessions) and produce the parish magazine. I still make and sell lots of marmalade and jellies for Christian World Service.
But I don't know how exciting birthdays would be if I were more frail or infirm, like some of my contemporaries.
Cheer up, you young ones; the best may be yet to come.
(If 60 is the new 30, is 40 the new 10? And 30....?)
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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deano
princess
# 12063
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Posted
I’m now nearer fifty than forty and both enjoying and hating the aging process.
Oh boy does this stir up some feelings.
I love having teenage and pre-teen kids. They keep me young by keeping up with them. Hint: If you are a fat, middle-aged git trying to keep up with teenagers trotting round Alton Towers (a theme park for US members), I can recommend Codeine Phosphate taken in quantities that will disturb your doctors.
But my mother-in-law is in her late eighties and has dementia and Alzheimers, and I want no part of that. If you keep your mind then you may be able to dispense the much-worshipped wisdom, but if not then you are merely a sac of chemical reactions that will cause those who love you to go through fear, anguish and ultimately hate for you.
So ageing is a voyage into the unknown. You could be a winner or a loser. It’s a gamble. Youth isn’t a gamble, you have everything and nothing, you have curiosity, vitality, and annoyingly good bodies (acne accepted of course), and no money, no jobs and no worries. As you get older you get more money, better jobs and plenty of worries.
These are not gambles, they are almost guarantees.
My point is that we all look at old age and realise that it’s a throw of the dice which way we will turn out – sage-like ancient, sought out for the wisdom of the ages we can dispense, or despised because we can’t remember to wipe ourselves and like to watch snooker because we don’t have to remember a plot.
My daughter has just finished a work experience week at a local solicitors (she’s undecided between medicine or law) and it has made me proud, laugh and feel old all at the same time. Funny when she said that “having a free slave to file six months’ worth of documents!” was wrong (Ha!), proud when she said that she thought “defending the weak” was right and, and old when I realised she was growing up!
There is a right and a wrong in our lifecycles. It’s as though we “know” there is a right time to die; too young to have experienced life is wrong, too old to be a useless burden is wrong. In between is not right, but better. That, for me, is why we react to aging as we do.
We laugh when we see that our wisdom trumps youth’s naiveté, and we are fearful when we see what lies at the end of the “Road to Dementia”. We are not made to live as long as medical advances have enabled us to do so.
The question then becomes “Would we be happier growing into old age if we knew that we would die without having to be told to bathe or eat or that we have already paid our gas bills.”
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"The moral high ground is slowly being bombed to oblivion. " - Supermatelot
Posts: 2118 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: Nov 2006
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Hate.hate.hate. dementia. Hoping not to get it (shut up, peanut gallery)
Loathe and despise arthritis. Got some of that at the moment.
Pissed off to realize that in ten (twenty, thirty) years I'll be looking back on today and thinking, "boy, I had it good."
![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I am 24 and looking to next year with dread.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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malik3000
Shipmate
# 11437
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Posted
When I saw the thread title I thought it was about this.
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God = love.
Otherwise, things are not just black or white.
Posts: 3149 | From: North America | Registered: May 2006
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
64 and still going strong!
Ageing is inevitable and it is fine by me. Certainly there are certain physical slowing down bits and not all of those are a bad thing. I love being the age I am, I have always loved being the age I am and wouldn't go back to a younger age at any price.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I hit a round number last year, and I have to admit that it hit me harder than I thought it would. Beforehand, I was thinking "It's just a number", but when the day came (and for some days afterward) it did lead to some soul-searching.
For a long time, the possibilities seemed limitless: family, work, music, friends, travel, things to learn... I have some pretty big dreams of where I'd like to go with all of them.
But more and more I come to realize that it may not be possible to realize all of those dreams in my lifetime. And that's a sobering thought.
I'll still try to squeeze in as much as I can though ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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BessLane
Shipmate
# 15176
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Posted
My grandmother told me that life didn't get really good until you hit your 70's, and she lived her life to the fullest and passed at 97.
I remember coming up on my 30th birtday. My friends were trying to make out as if it were some horrible thing. I had a big ass party - catered, with a band - and everyone still up at 2 AM got was naked in my pool.
Hell yes, I want birthdays. Every single one of them I can get. I'm older, (maybe) wiser, definately more secure and comfortable and still going strong. I have no idea why the media tells us we should worship youth. When I was a youth, I was plumb stupid...I'll take old age and cunning every day
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It's all on me and I won't tell it.
formerly BessHiggs
Posts: 1388 | From: Yorkville, TN | Registered: Sep 2009
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
In the West there does seem to be some kind of cult of youth. To the extent that old is regarded as past it, out of touch, old-fashioned, slow, annoying, "they can't help it, it's that generation"... when in other cultures older people are treated with respect for their experience and wisdom, practical or spiritual, and young people are seen as people who still have things to learn.
Which is how it should be. But the attitude that if you're older you're not worth as much as a young person seems deeply entrenched. You aren't considered as attractive, and you're not usually considered much of an asset by employers - there's a marked difference in the number of interviews you're likely to get when applying for a job at 25 and 50 - and it's ridiculous. Because everyone clocks up experience and insights into things over the years that can be useful somewhere. (And an older person is more likely to stay in a job long-term and give it steady commitment than a young person who will be off in a couple of years to somewhere altogether more exciting.)
That, and the feeling that your life opportunities are pretty much over, and what's left to look forward to, are why people bemoan the aging process. We shouldn't be writing ourselves off. We should be celebrating a birthday because it's a milestone. We should be proud of being older and of what we've gained along the way.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
Tangent:
At what age is a reporter likely to call someone 'elderly' nowadays?
I remember my aunt in her 80s laughing to read that an elderly woman had had an accident while riding her bike, the woman's age being given as 64.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110
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Posted
GG
Love your sig BTW.
When are we likely to be called eldery
In my case, I accepted at 66 that I was elderly when a young woman offered me her seat on a crowded bus.
Took it of course; no way I wanted to look sexist. Besides, she had a lovely, sympathetic, smile. Even if there was a tinge of ageism there, it was very well meant, I'm sure.
Besides, I no longer have the "bridling" energy I used to have. Indignation energy has to be conserved for really important issues, such as the absence of subtitles on classic movies being shown again on TV ..
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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sebby
Shipmate
# 15147
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Posted
Watching the Trooping of the Colour whilst typing, I love birthdays - especially both of The Queen's, although rarely celebrate my own.
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sebhyatt
Posts: 1340 | From: yorks | Registered: Sep 2009
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