When I was 50 I felt 20 years younger. As I turned 60, I still felt like 45. Then at 65 I started to notice changes, though I still felt “young.” Now at 69 I often feel older than my age. How about you?
Clichés abound about aging: “it’s just a number”; “you’re as young as you feel.” There’s some truth in them.
Yet mental gymnastics don’t help much when the body and mind seem to rebel. Sight and hearing degrade. Blood tests creep into the “borderline” range. Losing weight seems futile. Visiting the doctor feels like a course in the alphabet: BPH, PSA, LDL, HDL, BP, RCC, BMI. And many of us suddenly discover arthritic joints and missing spinal disks (all that heavy gardening!).
All of which makes me think of the wonderful and wise residents in dozens of nursing homes I used to visit when I was a priest. Those who were semi-ambulatory often kept up with the latest activities and conversation. Those in chronic care and Alzheimer units hung on by threads. All residents had periods of feeling lonely and isolated. Most copes; the rest were given sedation medications. The staff were heroic in their service to the residents and did what they could to make their last years happy and safe.
Today thousands of residents and staff in such facilities are coping with Covid 19. Thousands have died and many more are at risk. The vaccine stills seems far off. Many of us wonder if in this country the elderly are too often treated as disposable. Check out the prescient 1973 thriller, Soylent Green. It’s fiction that seems to be heading toward fact.
We know that change is the only absolute. And the only absolute change is that we have limited shelf lives. So, what is your attitude toward aging?
Admittedly, young people don’t need to think about it. Most can coast freely for decades as long as they develop good habits. But what about you who are over a “certain age?” What do you see as the advantages of the last quarter to third of your life?
Two things keep me going. The first is that I have a huge reservoir of personal life experiences. I’ve learned from them and want to help others who’ve gone through similar experiences. The second is that I have wisdom accumulated through over 26 collective years of formal education and a lifetime of reading, seminars, and working with people.
I figure the Universe has plans for me until my final breath. In the meantime I take each moment as a gift and make every effort to live in the present moment, as Eckhart Tolle wisely writes in his Power of Now.
The real killer is isolation and loneliness for elders. Being left without family, friends, and community is a huge issue for many of our elders. What about for you?
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