Life Can Be Difficult When You Get Older.

Discussion in 'Personal Diaries' started by Hannah Davis, Sep 17, 2015.

  1. Hannah Davis

    Hannah Davis Veteran Member
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    Seriously, this is something I have come to realize that life can be even more difficult as we get older. We can have trouble with our mobility, we can find ourselves dealing with more health issues. We can find ourselves dealing more aches and pains. Then there is the work force. The older we get the harder it is to find work. I have found this out the hard way, unfortunately, it's not fair because we have so much to offer to the work force but it doesn't matter they want younger individuals because they feel they can get more time out of them. Yet the older we get the more stable we are and the more dedicated we are. Too bad the work force doesn't see it that way.
     
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  2. Pat Baker

    Pat Baker Supreme Member
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    It is sad that the mindset of the world has not advanced as quickly on the subject of the value of the older person as it has on technology. The term senior citizen is obsolete, today's senior citizen is not old, dried up with limited mental abilities.
     
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  3. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I'm not technically a senior citizen yet, but I have some days where I feel just that ^^ the bold text words.

    The only real solution I see is the older people banding together and starting businesses, using their shared knowledge to hire others, promote strengths, and give naysayers a run for their money.
     
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  4. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Unfortunately, from my previous healthcare experience in emergency medical and Senior Healthcare, older workers can have/do get heath issues that do affect their job. During my last job, when I was 55, I had to have a hip replacement done and a rotator cuff surgery. Each one took me away from work for 13 weeks (each surgery).

    Not only that, but when an older person puts their education (college) on their resume, they have to put down the number of years, not the dates. Dates give your age away, but then again, HR's will automatically suspect something when they see just the number of years. Person is hiding something (they think, and they are right). My military/Navy work experience is back in the late 60's into the 70's, but I can could only list the number of years I was in.........surely not the dates. My resume would wind up in the "can" as soon as they looked at it.

    Yes, age discrimination is doing just fine for us Baby Boomers! Unfortunately, that is just fact.

    And, YES, wife and I get aches/pains that we never got when we were younger. Before meeting my wife, I never took a vitamin, vitamin supplement or prescription meds......sure do now!
     
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  5. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    It's funny, how when we were kids, and were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up......we never said senior citizens!;) Life can be difficult at all ages and stages of our life. Every day brings a joy or sorrow our way....and we have to make the most of our lives.... to the end. Life is good!
     
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  6. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina Isobe Veteran Member
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    :oops:So true. Locally we have a booklet for Senior Citizen found at the library. Maybe you have a similar booklet for it's from the dept. of aging at your library. We do have Senior Citizen discounts and a magazine local called Generations has the list for our discount stores like Ross Dept. Store every Tuesday, their site has specs for your State. Our local supermarket Foodland has every Thursday 5% discount for us Senior Citizen discounts. TheBus.org has for 65 & older Senior Bus Pass discounts $30 for 2 years-that's a very good bargain. Locally our bus system has for emergency evacuation plan to pick up people who need to be evacuated free. For work there is HCAP where they try to place Senior Citizens who'd like to work.
    *http://www.hcapweb.org/
    * U. S. Dept. of Labor site for work for Senior Citizens: http://www.doleta.gov/Seniors/
    * There are sites that are just for Senior Citizens to find jobs: http://www.seniorjobbank.org/. I tried this kind of help, but it didn't help me much.
    Good luck. It's not all that bad being a Senior Citizen. We're going to have a Senior Citizen Fair this weekend at the Blaisdell Arena. It's free and we get a lot of freebies just by showing up.
    *http://www.blaisdellcenter.com/ai1ec_event/hawaii-seniors-fair-the-good-life-expo/?instance_id=.
    We got special housing places. Benefits.gov has lots to help Senior Citizen like rental subsidy, foodstamps too. A good internet search for your State's Senior's benefits, clubs, might show you some things for Senior Citizens just in your State. The holidays are coming soon when you're going to get together with family too. Don't give up and don't loose heart good things come your way just because you're a Senior Citizen! :)
     
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  7. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    What to call old people, has always been up for debate. In the 60's, I went with my Parents to visit my Dad's Aunt, who lived in a Lutheran Home, for old people. The sign on the lawn, in 2 foot high letters, made that very clear.;) It was correct, then...and now.
    Snapshot006.jpg
     
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  8. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I know in some cultures, the elderly are respected, and that used to be the case here, but I'm not seeing much of it lately. I hate reading stories about thugs attacking the elderly or disabled, or about them being abandoned. It is nice to see one now and then about people reaching out, though, and I know I read one recently about some boys who mowed an elderly lady's empty lot, because she got a ticket for not mowing it. They promised to keep mowing it for her. Also, there have been a few stories about elderly, especially veterans, who have fallen on hard times, and one person finds out and gathers a crowd, and they will fix up the person's home. Those types of stories help restore my faith somewhat.
     
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  9. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    I have seen how aged people complain particularly the physical pains in the morming. One colleague in my previous employer was past 70 years old. Whenever we would meet in reunions, he would always complain that life is getting unbearable because all his bones ache when he wakes up. I don't know what's wrong with him but I commisserate with his condition. He passed away at age 79 some years ago.

    Having seen some positive and negative of getting old, I guess we just have to be happy. There is a saying - choose to be happy - so that would help me fight off painful days. And hopefully, I wouldn't be afflicted with a dreaded disease so I can stay happy until the day I die... at age 101.
     
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  10. Jenn Windey

    Jenn Windey Supreme Member
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    I have been fortunate to be around some older folks that have shown me a few profound truths. The first being you can only feel as old as you allow yourself to be. I have met people in their late 80's and you would not have known it had they not told you. One guy totally floored me when he said he was 87! Never would have guessed that at all. he looked and acted like he was in his 40's.

    The second truth is that if you don't use it you lose it. Boy do I know that one on a first hand basis. No matter what- I now know as fact that I will have to be in a gym for the remainder of my life if I am going to be able to continue to do the things I love. I like to hike, and to enjoy all things nature. I love my garden and need to be strong enough to do that sort of work. If these are the things I love in life, I must like an athlete train well for endurance and take care of myself, otherwise I will lose these things.

    The last and hardest for me personally is, as we age we become less likely to make decisions that are radical. I am wrestling with a decision to leave my current job for one that pays better but could be more physically demanding. The tradeoff is the new job will bring a much better income that will come in handy for my retirement years. It also includes a pension and I have 17 more years till I can get social security. It is a tough decision and I have decided to let it go until next Friday. That way I have a week to contemplate and meditate. I make no large decision on the fly, I always consider it in it's totality.

    The bottom line is the world is an unsure place, there is no sure fire magic solutions. Some things however, we can control and those are the things I focus on.
     
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  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    At 78, Daniel Boone went on a long hunt from Missouri as far as the Yellowstone River. At 64, I am sore after walking a mile in the woods setting up my cameras.
     
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  12. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
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    They lied to me. Some older people were fond of telling me "hard work never hurt anyone". Well, hard work does hurt, and it also kills. Up until I hit 54 years of age, I was pretty active. Usually had physically demanding jobs, and long, hard walks during hunting season were normal activities for me.

    That all ended for good at age 55. Life as I knew it ended then too. I became an old man.
     
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  13. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I have always been an out-of-doors type of person, and usually lived in the country and had horses and other livestock that kept me busy taking care of them. I also walked a lot, and enjoyed long horseback rides when I had a day off of work.
    I know that my heart had spells of a-fib; but mostly that did not stop me from doing whatever I wanted. However, it did gradually continue to get worse every year.
    I now can't do most of the things that I used to do; but since I had the heart operation and no longer have the a-fib problem , I am doing better.
    Hopefully, with the Fitness Center membership, and regular exercise, by next summer, i will be able to do even more things again.
     
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  14. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    @Jenn Windey, you remind me of Freddie Webb, a former basketball player who played in the Olympics and later became a congressman and senator of our country. He is now past 70 and still hale and hearty. In his radio program every Saturday afternoon, he would always tell of his addiction to the gym. He spends a minimum of 3 hours every day in the gym. Proof of that is his muscles, big biceps and abs that you would see in his body-fit shirt. And his demeanor is like that of a 40-year old or maybe younger.

    That's the problem with me. I am lazy to exercise. My husband has even devised a simple exercise for me to taper off my bulging tummy. It is the hand grip that I would use while laying on the bed face up. That is to give tension to my abs muscles, hahahaaa. But that 2 minutes of exercise is still neglected.
     
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