The positive things about growing old are that you can chose whether or not to be competitive. After retirement, Sir becomes Fred. Your wife welcomes you having an affair, knowing of your limp inadequacies. Armchair planning takes over from frantic doing. Feeling smug knowing that you won't be here to suffer the future miseries for which you contributed. Enjoy the thoughts of your savings being worth more each year because they won't have to last so long. Hone skills analysing your illnesses online and finding that you may not be terminally ill. Here in Britain after seventy five you just fill in tick box to keep your drivers licence, regardless of being half blind and being in the first stage of mental decay. Tunnel vision blocks out any distractions. Still having the ability to enjoy spring flowers and a pretty girl. For Gods sake don't ask about the negatives.
Worrying about the future dilutes the pleasures of growing old. which is all unnecessary.Habituate your tinnitus, adjust to the walking stick. Ignore complaints about your overproduction of wind. Enjoy being able to beat your friends to new drugs. Indulge in speaking your mind, the young think you're bonkers anyway. Let your children find out you've spent all your saving when the will is read. Die smug in the fact that you led a secret life disgracefully, the infamous are never forgotten.
Someone told me recently that all of us (50 & up or seniors) are broken. Due to all of the crap we've gone through prior to now, we're broken. I don't know why but that keeps popping into my head. Then maybe every human is broken because we go through challenges, heartbreak, grief, and loss, disappointments our entire lives. It's called living. I like what you wrote @Ina I. Wonder. I've been a fighter my whole life but I also know what it feels like to get very close to giving up. I think we all have our breaking points. If we can survive and keep going forward, we're doing good.
Maggie, I just wanted to mention that Ina passed away a couple of years ago. The "Rest in Peace" avatar is used when a member dies so you may notice it occasionally in old threads.