Getting Old "My Way"

Getting Old \"My Way\"

Some of you maybe a lot older than me so I thought I'd post this. Do you recall what that moment in your life was when it finally hit you that you really AREN'T getting any younger? I'm not just talking about health-related issues like for me, a creeking right knee, lower back-ache when it's cold and other subtle injuries from doing martial arts for so many years.

A month ago as I celebrated my 29th B-day and got lost on pondering where the heck am I on this ride called life, I heard Mr. Sinatra's theme over the radio and then I had an epiphany (or moment of enlightenment if you're Buddhist)--- the damn song finally made sense! Now I know what the fuss is all about over that damn song and why its a standard.

It's not just some other song to me now, feels like it goes deeper because maybe now I could finally identify with its "message"?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Dude hush up!

Making me feel old.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I think part of why people feel old is because they start thinking "Oh, I'm (substitute age of your choice) now." Chronologically I just turned 42 on November 30. I don't feel 42 because I have no idea what 42 is "supposed" to feel like. As far as I'm concerned I'm 16 and always will be even if the time comes that the reflection in the mirror tells me otherwise. Age is a state of mind. If you don't have it you're not old. I still do whatever I did when I was 20, including going for 10 to 20 mile bike rides, walking up to ten miles, doing without sleep for a day or two when I'm busy. I simply refuse to say I can't or won't do something because of age.

My advice Santelmo-stop thinking that way. You're only going to make yourself old ahead of your time. 29 is young. 42 is young. Even my mom seems young at almost 66. My dad's another story, though. Chronologically he's 70 but he's always thought like an old man. Now he's really starting to act like one, including nursing every little ache and pain. Me and mom just fight through them. I refuse to let my body get in the way of doing what I want it to. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif And I'm still like a wide-eyed kid when I'm discovering something new, as I was with LEDs a year or so ago.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Well, boomers(40's 50's and 60's) are acting younger due to a bunch of factors including less manual labor as children / adults coupled with exercise programs and better health care.

Younger generations are getting fatter and fatter and might reverse the trend of a longer more active life. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Hm, middle age crises at 29?

You may feel old, now, but later you will feel even older. You will have more old moments.

Life, no one gets out alive.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I got that feeling once when I was 44 but decided never to do that again,54 going on 21.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

[ QUOTE ]
PocketBeam said:

Life, no one gets out alive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for that special bit of cheer.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I lost my youthful 'myth of invulnerability' after a terrible accident when I was thirteen. It's not the years -- it's the mileage. I've always been a high mileage unit. It's not at all bad or sad -- it's just different. For years I've been watching friends my age as they go through the same types of changes that I went through decades ago. Only the lucky among us go through these things -- the unlucky ones die young suddenly and never even see it coming.

It's all in the way you look at it. I find the aging process oddly reassuring.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I'm only fearful that if this is what 44 feels like bodily, 60+ ought to be something else entirely. I be achy a lot!

Actually the mind is getting a bit screwy too....

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

[ QUOTE ]
Sub_Umbra said:....It's not the years -- it's the mileage.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it's a combination of both, but my life also seems to be empirical proof for Sub_Umbra's hypothesis. I've noticed marked decreases in vitality that exactly mirror the normal decreases in human growth hormone ( HGH ) that occur during the aging process. Only thing is, in my case they were much bigger drops than should have occurred at those particular intervals ( this is where the mileage theory comes into play ).

21 - 23 --> Couldn't recover from strenuous workouts as fast as I was able to in high school.

25 --> Started getting sick all of a sudden ( I absolutely never would get sick before this, no matter how bad the bug going around was ).

29 --> Couldn't get through a workout w/o straining, tearing, breaking or otherwise putting something out of commission for a few weeks. Also started putting on weight almost overnight.

35 --> Holy $!@# I'm in trouble. Everything has practically fallen apart. Workouts are only a means to slow my ever-quickening downward death spiral. Spooky stuff indeed.

I expect a major heart attack or stroke in another 10 - 15 years......ironically, it will probably be a blessing, as my head will have likely fallen off by then or only be held on by duct tape at that point !!!

As for Sub_Umbra's mileage theory, I think that it's totally valid as well. I shouldn't have gotten to the point that I'm currently at now until my mid-60's or so, but the mileage factor must have added a significant multiplier effect to my normal aging cycle.

The more I age, the more I think that Logan's Run had it right - you get fried at about 32....before you become hopelessly geriatric.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I'm 58 right now. If I was to pick a number, I'd say that I peaked at about 35 years old. That said, it's all about attitude: think old, be old. Think young, be young. Ignore the calendar and enjoy life.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I'm 50 going on 51, I have a young mind BUT my body feels every year of my age. I wasn't blessed with the best of genes, I guess...

BUT, things could always be worse and besides, being "aged" gives one a sense of "status" or perhaps a feeling of being "privileged" because a lot of people die young.

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Heck, I feel privledged just knowing that I'll never have to go through being younger again! 7:]

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Geez. This computer has never double posted before.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

[ QUOTE ]
jtr1962 said:
Age is a state of mind. If you don't have it you're not old.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have to disagree somewhat with this...however, aging can be viewed either positively or negatively. If one dwells on what is lost, it ends up in mental aging and depression. If one views aging as a challenge with certain benefits, life can even get better in many ways ie greater vision of life, deeper relationships, accumulated wisdom and financial stability. But aging is definitely a reality.

I am 51 and quite OK with things. No health problems or stiffness. This may be due to a life of joyful vigorous outdoor exercise, a vegetarian diet, and a persistent curiosity about the world. I climb at least one mountain a week and read one or more books per week. It's also a lot of fun blowing away the 20-somethings on the steep mountain slopes!

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Sorry. Double post.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I've noticed that I repeat things.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Also, remember that a grumpy old man began off as a grumpy young man!!

I am 44, and I am going to a friend's 50 year old birthday party tonight. He has had a hard life, so he looks older, whereas I wear beard, so that I can look older ( my wife's request!)

This thread has made me realise how many CPF'ers are older than I guessed!!

You're ONLY getting old, when your "get up and go", has got up and went!!!!!!!!

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

I've noticed that I sometimes repeat things.

Re: Getting Old \"My Way\"

Stu
I had you pegged for an oldtimer....I got 10 years on ya.
Mike