quote:

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Originally posted by no prophet:
[QB] Someone told me 60 is the new 30.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Evensong:
Fear of death. Materialism, superficialism and no respect for wisdom.

Of course people want to stay young.

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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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Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
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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Posted by deano (# 12063) on :
 
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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Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
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."


 

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Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :
 
I am 24 and looking to next year with dread.
 

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Posted by malik3000 (# 11437) on :
 
When I saw the thread title I thought it was about this.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
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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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
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
 

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Posted by BessHiggs (# 15176) on :
 
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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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
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.
 

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Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
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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Posted by Barnabas62 (# 9110) on :
 
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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Posted by sebby (# 15147) on :
 
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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Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by deano:
Alton Towers (a theme park for US members)

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