Aging gracefully or not

The “golden years”; “you’re as old as you feel”; “age is just a number”; “60 is the new 40”.
Bah humbug I say. Here you are, finally retired, enjoying the freedom of not having to get up early, no bosses, no deadlines. You can choose to get involved in whatever group or activity you choose, leave it if it turns out to be not what you expected. Take that trip you’ve been putting off, start a health and fitness regime and so on.

Life’s good and then WHAM. Your body whacks you. You just fell, can’t figure out how it happened in an instant. Fortunately, not too serious, minimal damage, only a little bone in the hand was broken. You recover and carry on. Maybe you add some balancing exercises to your workout routine.

WHACK! Your knees start to give you trouble, they hurt, they don’t work as they should. Doctor says, “No wonder you’re feeling pain, your joint is bone on bone. Let’s fix it, surgery should be simple. When would you like to schedule it?” Whoa, you say, not so fast, I’ve got to think about it, but your knee decides for you as it hurts more every day. Fine, let’s do it. Six weeks later you’re back to better than normal. You join a walking group to celebrate.
Now you notice that just about all conversations with friends include a medical update on the latest body betrayals. Not the most cheerful of topics but at least you know you’re not alone. So, you continue pretty much as before, maybe a bit slower, a bit more cautious.

WHOP! Your blood pressure is all over the place. Not to worry, says your doctor, “this is very common in old people”. So now I’m old, as if that explained everything. Well, there are great pills for this, so we get it sorted out.

HEH, HEH, HEH! You look in the mirror one morning and notice that, if you’re a woman, your boobs are heading south, while your pubic hair is settling north on your chin. If you’re a man, the crown jewels are sagging a bit and Fagin the one-eyed snake, won’t get up as he’s supposed to.

One consolation is that there are several magic potions and procedures to fight this thing, so you try to take advantage of them. And then you start to think of all the ones who are gone, who never got the chance to worry about this thing called old age. So, you take a deep breath and practice gratitude. Which is not to say you accept this whole aging thing, but you approach it with a new perspective.