Clever sayings about old age have been invented consistently over the years. 'Old age is not for sissies" is one of them. Translated, it tells what all old people know but young people cannot begin to fathom. It is difficult to be old. There are also many reasons for that to be true, as well. The difficulties in being old can not be simply innumerate. For some it is failing health and consequent limited mobility. When eyesight fails to meet the standard for an operator's license for a car, the claustrophobia of seniors sets in. The same things that used to be so much fun, are now seeming like the most difficult to survive.
Many friends and family members have died. When a younger generation sense the difficulty you may have in relating to them, and you don't know how to do so, your social options quickly become limited.. If younger people see you as someone who will be humble about past achievements and wish to be accepted for who you are today.
Most of us know people who are lonely but refuse to go to senior citizens centers because the people there are old. Suddenly the definition of old is more vague. Old is not years of life, it is a mind set influenced by pain, lack of mobility, and often a real slowed down passion. Watching an32 year old video I converted to a DVD, I was stunned as I watched my one hundred year old father, just over his second heart attack without major surgery, recall songs from his youth in Greece. His detail and recall of early details as well as current was startling to me; his voice strong and his face unwrinkled. He seemed the embodiment of the phrase "use it or lose it".
When we speak of old age, the image conjured up for most id that of a wobbly-voiced, wrinkles face persons, who are only interested in themselves. Number years on earth may be important but is in no way descriptive of a person's life or behaviors.
Many friends and family members have died. When a younger generation sense the difficulty you may have in relating to them, and you don't know how to do so, your social options quickly become limited.. If younger people see you as someone who will be humble about past achievements and wish to be accepted for who you are today.
Most of us know people who are lonely but refuse to go to senior citizens centers because the people there are old. Suddenly the definition of old is more vague. Old is not years of life, it is a mind set influenced by pain, lack of mobility, and often a real slowed down passion. Watching an32 year old video I converted to a DVD, I was stunned as I watched my one hundred year old father, just over his second heart attack without major surgery, recall songs from his youth in Greece. His detail and recall of early details as well as current was startling to me; his voice strong and his face unwrinkled. He seemed the embodiment of the phrase "use it or lose it".
When we speak of old age, the image conjured up for most id that of a wobbly-voiced, wrinkles face persons, who are only interested in themselves. Number years on earth may be important but is in no way descriptive of a person's life or behaviors.
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