Site visitors have written comments about ageing.
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Each week another visitor’s comments about ageing will be presented.
From Jim H.
I’m only 53 but I retired early from the military, and so this is my situation:
I have less tolerance for bullshit people, things, and situations.
I cannot stand being around people that are negative because they are energy vampires that suck life away.
I’m never bored… but this doesn’t seem to go with the old age.
I made a plan that after I left the military that I would be creative.
I do digital space-themed artwork and fantasy cartography and I write Science Fiction and Fantasy similar to what I read as a 13-year-old child written by authors who are mostly now dead.
My growing sense of my mortality pushes me to create even more to leave a legacy before I die.
But at the same time, I have seen many technological changes, growing at an even more rapid pace, I read Future Shock by Alvin Toffler when it was released in the 70s and I understood it at even has a child and it is certainly true.As a fan of Ray Kurzweil and other futurist I understand that maybe technology will arrive that will allow people to live forever so I might be one of the first Generations to live forever, certainly one day this will be possible.
I typically only sleep 4 to 6 hours a night because of pain from arthritis.
I understand the value of relationships and how important it is to keep the good people in your life and let the bad ones go away forever.
But that being said most people do have value because of their Humanity… but I know that there are some who are so completely lost in darkness and selfishness that they’re irredeemable.
Another thing related to my mortality is I’ve lost more cats now than I can count. And I appreciate them while they’re with me for their short lives and I grieve for them when they pass.
Almost all of my relatives now are dead from old age.
again this pushes me… because I say to myself… what is my father going to do today for his life?
He can’t do anything… because he is dead… but I’m still alive.
So what can I do today to push to my potential?
I have a Litany of aches and pains I have a Litany of aches and pains and diseases that I mostly just ignore and treat as best as I can and keep in mind my reduced capacity.
I can no longer afford to get into a bar fight at the slightest provocation like I did when I was a 23-year-old sailor serving in the Persian Gulf.
I’ve learned to become treacherous and I avoid fights …but if I get jumped… like I sometimes did when I was homeless as a military veteran…I don’t hold back like I might have once done…be to be merciful…cause I will only get a few chances.
And anyone who wants to beat up and rob an old man deserves what he gets.
I wear my camouflage jacket as armour and as bee’s warning stripes.
I remind me much of my grandfather who was a World War 2 veteran.
He died when I was 11, defending his home in a home invasion.
I’m not bitter about life but I am very pragmatic as to any situation I’m in and I choose carefully everything I do.
At my age, I can’t afford to make many mistakes.
Jim H
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From Ed…
I am turning 83. My mind and spirit are the same as they were 40 years ago. It is the body that wears down.
Key is whether you let your body run your attitude let your attitude run your body.
Yes, I am slower. Yes, I am weaker, Yes, I have weaker knees, worse hearing and my eyes have lost their eagle sharpness.
My joy is greater than it ever was. My 8 kids, grandkids and great grandkids and all the spouses fill my life with love and crazy things that make me laugh and cry. They number 34. Christmas and birthdays and school plays and sports and marriages and births make up our fabric.
I am very wealthy, even though I do not have earthly wealth. I almost lost my wife to critical illness last year and she miraculously made it through. She is worth all the wealth of my world.
my wife of many years knows that I love her immensely and she loves me more. No, I love her more. We live a life of comfort and peace.
Now, the key here is what each of us makes of our lives. I have relatives my age who moan and groan about much of everything and they count the aches and pains and miss the happiness trying so hard to get into their hearts.
We need to become comfortable and accepting in our own being, no matter our age.
It hasn’t always been an ice cream sundae life. I spent 3 1/2 years in a wheelchair and it felt like forever. I walk now up to 5 miles a day, through the pain in my legs and feet. Lost 50 lbs.
I am losing my eyesight slowly through macular degeneration. I use a 28-inch monitor and I do not drive at night anymore.
I plan on 15 more years of active lifestyle. Well, instead of hiking the Appalachian trail, we now take cruises across the world. Instead of scuba, we now use floats and masks and watch the Caribbean aquatic life from above instead of below. Still laughing and coming back in with deep joy.
Be the best you can as you age. No one said it was easy, but no one said you have to give in to the negatives.
Ed
