Getting Older

Armistead · Jul 1, 2008

I'll turn 47 this week. I have to admit getting older bothers me. I don't know, maybe I'm going through a mid-life crisis. I'm sure anyone older knows how fast life goes by..Life really goes by fast. My mind doesn't feel older, but my body does. My children just grew up...much too fast. My daughter is off to college this year...so strange.

I look at my mother. She is nearing those end years. I'm going to miss her.
So many have died. It seems when you get over 40, someone you know dies about every month. My mom says it's just something you accept, but that when you reach that age, it plays on your mind, but to leave it in God's hands. We re-did her will last week and looked at pictures, ect...years seem seconds. Her health is bad. Each Christmas I wonder if it will be her last, but she hangs around.

Hopefully this will pass, but getting older has been bothering me...a lot.
I don't really know why. I'm not scared of death. I faced death for two years with a medical condition and got through it...not always easy, but dealt with it and hopefully OK from now on.

Does getting older bother you and how do you deal with it?

OldWiseGuy · Jul 1, 2008

I'd guess that most people's anxiety about aging is a cultural thing. We're expected to think and feel a certain way, so we do. I suggest reading Paul C. Bragg's, "Miracle of Fasting". It's called the "bible of health", and for good reason, as it gets into mental and spiritual health as they are connected to physical health. One of the most profound truths stated by Mr. Bragg is, "If you want to be healthy, don't hang around with sick people" (my paraphrase).

The sick and dying are all around us, and sadly they are our family and friends, and maybe even ourselves. Everyone wants to be healthy, but no one wants to pay the price. The price is being different from everyone else; kinda like being a Christian.

owg

dead2self · Jul 2, 2008

Brother, only in our culture is getting older a bad thing. Prior to the modern era, grey hair and wrinkle were a sign of wisdom and dignity. Of course a lot of it is the media, but I wonder if another large part of why we view getting older is such a poor light is that, as a culture, we tend to mostly waste our lives, and then retire into lethargy and leisure. Perhaps if we did more that had meaning and ended our lives on fire for God and in His service, getting older would not be so bad.

Of course I do not know you well at all and am not commenting on your life, just ageing in general in our culture. And of course I'm just shy of 30 yet so can't say I know how it feels yet.

OldWiseGuy · Jul 2, 2008

dead2self said:
Brother, only in our culture is getting older a bad thing. Prior to the modern era, grey hair and wrinkle were a sign of wisdom and dignity. Of course a lot of it is the media, but I wonder if another large part of why we view getting older is such a poor light is that, as a culture, we tend to mostly waste our lives, and then retire into lethargy and leisure. Perhaps if we did more that had meaning and ended our lives on fire for God and in His service, getting older would not be so bad.

Of course I do not know you well at all and am not commenting on your life, just ageing in general in our culture. And of course I'm just shy of 30 yet so can't say I know how it feels yet.

I read Bragg when I was 35, and have been a disciple since. He warned that we would see our family and friends sicken, weaken, and die unnecessary premature deaths, or live with easily preventable diseases and disabilities, while those of us who take health seriously would thrive physically, mentally, and spiritually. At 68 I can attest that this is true. I am thankful to be 'different'. I am in excellent health in all respects, still work full time, and am an avid hunter with gun and bow. I enjoy my life today more than ever largely because I have my health, which is the most precious physical asset a person can possess. Sadly, most people place little value on their health.

owg

Yarddog · Jul 2, 2008

Armistead said:
I'll turn 47 this week.

Hey Youngbuck,
Man I wish I was 47 again.

Does getting older bother you and how do you deal with it?

No, not much. I'm 54 and have tons of great memories. It's strange how it's so hard to remember the bad things or how they can become funny to look back on, now.

God has been good to me. I worked 23 years for the Railroad and then went on Disability because of Muscular Dystrophy. I complained about all the money they took out of my check but I'm getting it back now. It pays pretty good.

Though I'm in pain a lot, I feel so blessed because I have been able to be a full time Dad for my son, who just turned 17. I watch him and see all of the good things that he will be experiencing in the years to come, and it thrills me.

I also look at my disease as a blessing because it keeps me humble, and if you knew the problem I had with pride in my younger years you would understand. I feel that God has a plan for me in the future and I can't wait to see what it may hold.

I ain't letting growing old stop me from enjoying all that I have left.

Let it go,
There is no use worrying about what you can do nothing about.
If there is something that you can change, don't wait. Take the necessary steps to make it better.
Have faith, God has a plan for you too.

God Bless,
Yarddog

bliz · Jul 2, 2008

I feel like I'm running out of time. There are things I want to do and I don't know how I will fit them all in. I don't think that's cultural at all.

MarkSB · Jul 2, 2008

Armistead said:
My mind doesn't feel older, but my body does.

That's a great blessing, and it's the exact opposite for me. I feel silly saying this at my age, but I feel old at heart. And it's mainly because my own sins have left me dulled and weathered. Life didn't exactly turn out the way I thought it would, but I still got hope for the future because of God.

Stinker · Jul 2, 2008

Does getting older bother you and how do you deal with it?

Getting older bothers me because I have to keep reminding myself many times that I am no longer in the age bracket of so many people I come into contact with. Though in my mind, I am still back there. Every morning I do not see in the mirror what everyone else sees.

eastcoast_bsc · Jul 2, 2008

I am in my forties and I stay active. Though I had knee surgery in December for a torn Meniscus, so I modified my workout routine, I now ride the exercise bike hard and lift weights. I do miss running though. I also went back to school after my second layoff, I will be graduating this June with a Bachelors in Accounting/Finance. So I guess the key is to maintain goals and try to achieve them. I found it very hard pounding Accounting formulas into my head, but I just kept my fists up and kept fighting.

plmarquette · Jul 8, 2008

I'll be 57 ...7-17-51 ... I had a heart attack and 4 way bypass surgery in February of this year.... physical therapy ... & look at it like passage in Old Testament, I have been given 15 more years [2 Kings 20.6]... to live better, wiser, and with quality this time around... start reading labels on food at the grocery... depressing ... salt, fat, cholesterol eat better, so you don't join "the jump start and zipper club"... (if it tastes good spit it out !)

Timeo · Jul 8, 2008

Yes, getting older bothers me. I'm only 28, but still I'm starting to feel old, I've lived a fast life. It feels like the fun days are over, and now It's all responsibility and worries. Whats ahead of me is just decreasingly more pain, until the pain kills me.

Sphinx777 · Jul 8, 2008

I wish I was old enough to retire...

WarEagle · Jul 9, 2008

I'm OK with growing older. Would I want to be nineteen again? Well, physically, maybe. I'll admit, it would be nice to have my hair back.

But spiritually? Are you kidding me???

Emotionally? No. I wouldn't have the slightest idea at that age how to be a good husband to my wife or minister to my family.

Jimmy Buffett has a song that says "wrinkles only go where a smile has been". So, sure, I might have stayed young, but look at all of the joy I would have missed.

Watching that incredible woman walk down the aisle toward me. Being there when my babies were born. Those romantic times with my wife. A thousand days of hide and seek with the kids. Taking my son to his first baseball game. Lying on the dock looking up at the stars. Watching them grow into fine young Godly men and women.

Now, I'm looking forward to walking my daughters down the aisle. Straightening my son's tie for his first date. Hearing the little ones call me "Grampa". Watching my wife grow more and more beautiful with grace as each day passes.

There's something that looks really foolish about a grown person trying to look like a kid because the natural order of things is that we do grow old and that's not a bad thing.

The Bible tells us that there is wisdom and virtue in age.

tulc · Jul 9, 2008

Armistead said:
Does getting older bother you and how do you deal with it?

hmmmm my grandkids help me a lot.
tulc(and lots of coffee!)

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