I don’t often share personal information or emotions on this blog. I am a cheerleader for Creativity with a capital “C” and a lover of unique art and thinking, and try and share that enthusiasm with those who will listen.
I just recently had a birthday, and it has not been sitting well with me.
I am the oldest of our set of friends, and fourth oldest in our circle of families. It has been a natural progression, and for the most part it has been a smooth ride forward.
Yet yesterday there was a bitter taste in my mouth for having been on this earth 72 years.
YES, I am more than thankful/blessed/happy for all the life I have been granted. I outlived my mother (54) and am heading towards breaking the record of my dad (85).
But this year there was a little more bitterness about the fact that the road ahead is shorter than the road behind me. A crack in my happy facade. A waiver in the solid acceptance of the inevitable.
I suppose we all reflect and react on our limited time on Earth. That’s a very human trait. I was born before there was a vaccine for polio. Before the landing on the moon and the Vietnam War. Before computers, cell phones, and Barbie Dolls.
I was born before the Internet.
That’s just a weird place to find myself. Older people always muse that today’s kids will never know what getting their first TV was like. What it was like to use the Dewey Decimal System cards in the library. What a typewriter was. That the only place you could listen to music was a transistor radio. All those weird inventions that were, at the time, amazing.
I admit it. I don’t want to get old. I don’t want to become irrelevant.
Yet after our grandkids’ generation we will become dust in the wind, just like our grandparents and great grandparents and great-great grandparents.
That’s why all we truly have in this world is living for today. And, if we’re lucky, tomorrow. And the Next Day and the Next Day, until one day it doesn’t matter anymore.
Make today count.
Humoring the Goddess 
I understand completely. And in our culture, older people too often do become irrelevant. I don’t care if I’m never remembered, I think those are living thoughts. When one is dead, I doubt very much if we will look back for any reason. Is aging a punishment for not dying? When I see some people, and the many problems they have, I wonder. I actually got a Degree in Gerontology, so I would learn how to not get old. Hahahaha. Anyway, if we wake up, we just all keep moving closer to the end, just like the books we read and along with everyone else. Everyone is heading in the same direction. The idiot who planned this pathetic experiment did a terrible job.
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Very thoughtful and very true. We can’t let whatever the end may be to slow us down or stop us from doing what we want to do. The inevitable inevitably sucks.
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I am about to turn 72 myself, and often think about the shortness of my time left. But I also ponder those days of my past. Our generation had the very best music, that’s a fact. My husband loaded all of his albums on a memory stick and we listen to them while traveling.
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You are marvelous! We have a hard drive with 6000 songs on it, all songs from our past. There will never be music like that. There is nothing better than sharing ones past and present as we open that door to the future! Thank you!
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Yes.
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Well said!!
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Awwww… thank you. I hate being a downer now and again — but your response shows me I’m not alone. As long as we pick ourselves up and keep moving forward, all is good.
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I really enjoyed this! I’m fast approaching 74 and as a writer wonder why I keep going, applying for fellowships, to mainstream publishers to no avail. I guess it’s about moving on and moving over 🙂
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It’s definitely about moving on … and moving up … and down … and three feet to the left! I see nothing wrong with hitting a publisher .. I started crafting three years ago and have been going to a couple of craft shows a year selling my wares! There’s so much you can do with your future. If one door is locked, big deal — open the next one!
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I loved this post. I understand and agree with everything you said. Happy belated birthday!
I’m going to be 70 next April. I think I can handle it. BUT! I went through exactly what you’ve expressed here about five years ago – the shorter road ahead – my mortality. It left me in the dumps for months.
Somewhere along the way, I decided to take care of myself as best I could and just go with the flow. I hope I have a lot of years left to get into whatever trouble I want to.
You want to know what bugs me now? The thought of dating. LOL! I’d like to date – eventually. Finding someone with a sense of adventure and the willingness to accept my crazy outlook on life might prove challenging.
You’re on your way to breaking your dad’s record. You can accomplish so much and do a lot of living in 13 years (and beyond). Hugs!
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You are wonderful and so is your response. Truly. I find no matter now much or how little I think about the future there’s nothing much I can do about it except take care of myself and make sure I get there! I too look forward to getting into future trouble. As long as it’s not against the law, let’s go for it together!
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We will! ❤️
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Thankyou for your thoughts. You may have another 20 years to endure, I have passed the 100 and live in a home for the aged. It is lonely there is no one to share my knowledge of Truth. The computer helps and my son brings me beer and potato crisps, and I have a bottle of whiskey for an occasional indulgence.
If you have a lively curiosity there is a fund of the metaphysical to investigate in your old age, recently through Dr.George King who was brought here by karmic manipulations for the importance of his work. I met him in 1958 and became involved.
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May both of our futures bring us new awakenings! Never too old to learn something new!
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Very few will remember the WLS SIlver Dollar Survey either, available at record stores, when we all listened to the same music. Girl I wouldn’t trade this time frame we lived in for anything. 72 rocks and so do we in ways future generations will never know. [heartpump.gifhttps://webmail.centurylink.net/app/ress/img/RTE/emoticon2/heartpump.gif]
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I was a BIG WLS listener. I wouldn’t trade those days for anything, either. It is following generations’ loss. Thank you for reminding me.
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72 is an odd age while other age numbers seem okay. Nonetheless, I am sure you will continue splendidly and I hope you had a wonderful day!
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How funny for you to say that! Yes. And there’s no real reason for that feeling. I suppose this temporary dip can come at any age. And I have good friends my age who are closer to danger than I. Maybe it’s just a now and then touch with reality.
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I don’t know – for me ages are always more than a number. For me, some numbers sound old, some young, some neutral, others fat with portent in either direction! 72 for me is sort of odd because it is a multiple of 8×9, which is further broken down – and it just seems like it is the point where you stop being young and start being old. 85 is elderly! Anyway, that is sort of my take on things for no other reason than that is my reaction!
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There’s nothing I love more than your reaction! And I feel that way about 72 also. I dunno. I used to think that 60 was old. Now I’m beginning to think 100 is the be ginning of being old! As long as we’re doing things that fulfill us there’s nothing more we can do. So let us ride the rollercoaster together!
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You got it!!
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I have always had a fear of getting older. Then one day I saw something on Facebook and it hit home, especially as I had recently lost a couple of friends younger than me. “Getting old is a privilege denied to some.” It made me rethink the whole getting older thing. I agree, make today count! Hugs.
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Yes yes. That’s why it’s really not a complaint — it is more a reflection. I have friends who have had cancer, heart problems, and more. Some are fighting much bigger battles than I am. And I am there for them. That in turn makes me here for myself. Thank you for sharing our “privilege.”
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