| Author | | Thread: my answer to getting older |
|
|

StressFree small city, Kalmar Sweden
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|
|
|

darlynda new tazewell, Tennessee USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

Ambrose2007 Badger, South Dakota USA
View Threads View Posts
| | my answer to getting older Posted: Aug 10, 2008, 10:29 AM CST | The main problem I have with your paean to aging, Darlynda, is that I find it rather too accepting of things which need not be accepted. I mean, the convalescent homes I've been in are full of people who've given up on exercising their minds and bodies - they call that acceptance. I call it ignorance. When mentally stimulating programs were instituted, their minds grew more active and joyful; when weight-training was implemented, the strength and flexibility of elderly individuals increased. How many older people are limping and being wheeled about for lack of exercise, nutrition, and simple joie de vivre?
For example, there's no reason to be satisfied with a "saggy butt" or having the generic soft, overweight out-of-shape middle-aged body. One simple solution is to get off your butt and do cycling, running/jogging, squats, yoga, etc. Wrinkles can be delayed or softened through simple things like avoiding excessive sun, moisturizing, and exercise (facial and normal).
Inevitably - barring technological advances - aging will take its toll, but one can live a far healthier and better quality life by valuing the superior physicality of youth and attempting insofar as sensibly possible to maintain it.
"Do not go gently into the good night" and all.
Jeff
|
| | Is this post offensive? Click here to let us know |
| |
|
|
|

Ambrose2007 Badger, South Dakota USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

bushbun Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

Ambrose2007 Badger, South Dakota USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|
lovenkisses Somewhere in, Pennsylvania USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

Ambrose2007 Badger, South Dakota USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

Indyfella indianapolis, Indiana USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

StressFree small city, Kalmar Sweden
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

DizzyDi Lancashire, Lancashire, England UK
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

trish123 Lancashire, Lancashire, England UK
View Threads View Posts
| | my answer to getting older Posted: Aug 10, 2008, 11:05 AM CST |
Ambrose2007 wrote:Statistically, men who marry younger women live longer (or so I've read). The likely reason is that younger women create some pressure on the older guy to stay fit and mentally active.
SOme older women share that drive, too, but the ones who do - I'm fairly sure of this - do not maintain a passive attitude toward aging. They want to stay young and vital for as long as possible.
Excuse me if I may just sound a tad sceptical here but.......... maybe there is a case to be heard here for older women who refuse to be the 'bring me, fetch me, carry me' helpmeet which I have seen all to often in men who look for younger women - not all of course.......
My Childrens Dad was 10 yrs older than me and I once came into a conversation of his at a party where he was telling a friends mother that he had an automatic washing machine, a dishwasher and a personal shopper, the next sentence was, "here she is.......... this is Trish".............. - they say you live and learn........... I did learn lots from that one
|
| | Is this post offensive? Click here to let us know |
| |
|
|
|

trish123 Lancashire, Lancashire, England UK
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|
cherokeemoon2 grove, Oklahoma USA
View Threads View Posts
| | my answer to getting older Posted: Aug 10, 2008, 11:25 AM CST |
darlynda wrote:old age, i decided is a gift. i am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person i have always wanted to be. oh, not my body! i sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. and often i am taken aback by that old person in my mirror(who looks like my mother!), but i dont agonize over those things for long. i would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family, or my beautiful sons for less gray hair or a flatter belly. as i have aged, i have become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. i have become my own friend. i dont chide myself for eating the extra cookie or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that i didnt need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. i am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. i have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. whos business is it, if i choose to read or play on the computor until 4am and sleep till noon? i will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s and 70s and if i , at the same time , choose to weep over lost love ....I WILL. i will walk on the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a sagging body, and i will dive in the waves with abandon if i choose to, despite the pitying looks from the jetset. they, too will get old. i know sometimes i am forgetful. but there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. and i eventually remember the important things. sure over the years my heart has been broken. how can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebodys beloved pet gets hit by a car? but broken hearts are what gives us strength, understanding, and compassion. a heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know thw joy of being imperfect. i am blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into grooves on my face. so many have never laughed, and have died before their hair could turn silver. as i get older, it is easier to be positive. i care less about what other people think. i dont question myself anymore. i have earned the right to be wrong. so to answer my own qestion, i like getting older! it has set me free. i like the person i have become. i am not going to live forever, but while i am still here, i will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. and i will eat my dessert single day.(if i feel like it) Tk u sweety at my age i needed that.Ive fought the wrinkles and ect for so long Iam just worn out with the whole mess.
|
| | Is this post offensive? Click here to let us know |
| |
|
|
|

darlynda new tazewell, Tennessee USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

woody636 Elgin, Illinois USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|
EnSilencio Almunecar, Andalucia Spain
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

sunshine92064 san diego, California USA
View Threads View Posts
| | my answer to getting older Posted: Aug 10, 2008, 12:05 PM CST |
Getting older is like entering into a beautiful-realm-of-being. Who would have thought what a wonderful ride this would be?
Through my path I have grown, viewing each moment to be nothing less than special. My view of what really matters is so very clear ... That big house, fancy car, ocean cruiser, home theater all are so insignificant. If you have taken off the blinders of youth, you can now see what its really about
Have you reached out and touched someone today? Have you visited with someone less fortunate bringing a smile to their face? Did they warm your heart? Were you a good listener to a friend who just needed to vent. Do you see a little something special in most that surround you? And, how about that hug to the person with tears in their eyes who you have not seen before... Gone are the days of being judgmental when compassion fills your shoes.
Blessings surround us in all directions...family so precious, our children are now having children (oh, how blessed we are!). That incredible feeling of holding your first grandchild, the greatest gift of all, cuddled in your arms.
We treasure our friends, and, try to bring a smile to the face of at least one new person a day. How lucky we have been to have been touched by their lives.
We no longer dwell on negatives, as out of those we now see positives. Don't spend much time getting upset over little things, rather concentrate on how we can make things better, knowing the moment is only a blip-in-time
And so it is, that getting older is a wonderful experience wrapped in such a peaceful feeling of such happiness within ones self. So thankful for this glorious time, we soak up the moment with a yearning to slow time as we smell the beautiful roses of life
|
| | Is this post offensive? Click here to let us know |
| |
|
|
|

darlynda new tazewell, Tennessee USA
View Threads View Posts
| | | |
|
|
|

Daniel4021 Somewhere, Tennessee USA
View Threads View Posts
| | my answer to getting older Posted: Aug 10, 2008, 12:21 PM CST |
darlynda wrote:old age, i decided is a gift. i am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person i have always wanted to be. oh, not my body! i sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. and often i am taken aback by that old person in my mirror(who looks like my mother!), but i dont agonize over those things for long. i would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family, or my beautiful sons for less gray hair or a flatter belly. as i have aged, i have become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. i have become my own friend. i dont chide myself for eating the extra cookie or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that i didnt need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. i am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. i have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. whos business is it, if i choose to read or play on the computor until 4am and sleep till noon? i will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s and 70s and if i , at the same time , choose to weep over lost love ....I WILL. i will walk on the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a sagging body, and i will dive in the waves with abandon if i choose to, despite the pitying looks from the jetset. they, too will get old. i know sometimes i am forgetful. but there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. and i eventually remember the important things. sure over the years my heart has been broken. how can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebodys beloved pet gets hit by a car? but broken hearts are what gives us strength, understanding, and compassion. a heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know thw joy of being imperfect. i am blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into grooves on my face. so many have never laughed, and have died before their hair could turn silver. as i get older, it is easier to be positive. i care less about what other people think. i dont question myself anymore. i have earned the right to be wrong. so to answer my own qestion, i like getting older! it has set me free. i like the person i have become. i am not going to live forever, but while i am still here, i will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. and i will eat my dessert single day.(if i feel like it)
This is a wonderful post, and imo you have described the essence of getting older, and how it should be viewed..
|
| | Is this post offensive? Click here to let us know |
| |
|
|
|
|