Getting Older, What To Expect And What Is A Nasty Surprise.
Author: Bill Garwood
Getting Older: What to Expect and What is a Nasty Surprise.
We are ALL aging; nobody tells us what to expect, mostly because people don’t like to talk about it. It’s not a fun subject and we don’t often like to even think about getting older. It just sort of happens; kind of like Christmas, it was several months away, but now it’s only a few days till the old Yule Log is on every channel! “Aww, c’mon, it was summer last week.”
The first thing to understand is that everybody ages differently. This is true, I have known many people over my life who appear and act older than their actual, younger age. Mostly folks seem to be older because they just sit around and wilt. They barely move, and it really takes a toll on their minds & bodies. In order to live, you need to LIVE! Walk around, get things done, work on something. Yes, you do need to relax now and then, especially after a day’s work. But people NEED to keep their minds and bodies active, not just sit outside yelling at kids to stay off your lawn.
We can ALL expect to slow down because…hey, we ARE getting older; our bodies are wearing out. Parts are not easy to find, without stimulating our minds we lose our ability to think clearly (then we have to run for Federal office.) Lives of hard physical labor can build up our strength and endurance, but also cause wear and tear on our bodies. I learned this after 15 years of working on armored vehicles. (I got to enjoy the job, my knees and back not so much.)
What can we expect? Our energy isn’t as great as years before; we seem to tire more often. (The good part about this is we can take NAPS! That’s a benefit of getting older.) Soreness everywhere! Also, bumps and bruises all over from things we can’t remember doing. I always seem to be finding scratches and bruises all over and never remembering where or when it happened. That is really frustrating.
The “nasty surprises” usually come from heredity. We start getting hair loss (no comments, please) or hair growing out…all over, but never where it’s supposed to grow! (Like ears, knuckles, toes and many other places we don’t want to think about.) Teeth falling out; this has a lot to do with our eating habits. “Noises”…when did just getting up from a chair involve more sound effects than a science fiction movie? (Just turning over in bed can scare the cat and cause the neighbors to dial 911.) A snap or pop isn’t too bad, but when it involves a “FIZZ” with the sound, THAT is scary.
Everyone says, “all the pain, etc. beats the alternative.” We don’t know that. Ghosts are silent about that. Can’t you just hear a ghost in your house saying, “Oh man, my back is killing me. I thought dying would stop that.”
So live, and try to stay healthy. Your body will thank you for it.
