The one thing that makes my age tough to accept is that my age has always been tough to accept. I am one of those people who has always looked way younger than my chronological age. I looked like I was 13 years old when I graduated high school. It's not necessarily a good thing. It has always caused issues in my social and professional lives. Even now at 66, people think I'm in my early-to-mid 50s. I helped my neighbour (who's known me for 10 years) build a deck a few weeks ago and we were talking about retirement. He said "Yeh, and you're not even 60 yet, are you?" He was shocked to learn I am less than a year younger than he. But I can feel that I've slowed down. Quite honestly, I think a big part of that has been my sedentary nature since I quit work...it's not the entire cause, but I bet it's better than half of it. Damned inertia.
I find it terribly hard to accept both my age and the bodily and mental decay mainly because I think that I should be fitter and healthier at my age. I envy all those who are. I assume if I managed to get older, I might accept all that, say, at the age of 80 or beyond but not at 65.
I thought I'd be more unhappy about wrinkles and such, but I find that they really don't bother me. I suppose I can chalk that up to failing eyesight. I do hate getting physically weaker and having occasional aches and pains, but so far everything has been manageable. Since my brother died last August, I have been far too obsessed with thoughts of death and dying. I don't particularly want to think about it, but I want to find some kind of peace and acceptance when my time comes, if that makes sense.
I've noticed that since I retired and have less human interaction (I live alone), I'm losing my vocabulary. In the conversations that I now have, I search for words as I speak. That's never happened to me before. I don't like it. And I, too, could be fitter. A little exercise would sure help all of the above.
Talk about obsessions none of the males in my family have lived past the age of 71 I will be 72 in May I always feel like I'm living on borrowed time.
You may have seen some of my prior comments on this subject. Father died at 55, older brother at 53, lost a younger brother 2 years ago at 60. I'll be 67 in May. Somewhere out there is a piano just waiting for me to walk underneath of it so the rope can snap.
Lololol..least we have humor to share discussing our demise to come. Until early last year I looked Purdy dang good( so I am told). But this immune disease did a number on me last year- and now I just look like a normal ole mamawa. My hair is gray and very thin . The meds alone killed my hair. Have accepted the fact I am older and do not look the same.As long as I can keep my mind I will be okay. Remember..its not about living longer..its about living good while your still here
If I start feeling bad about aging, I just call my mother and have a short chat, and then I feel a lot better. (She is 97 going on 13..)
" There’s an old saying: “If you forget where you left your car keys, that’s normal. If you forget what the car keys are for, call your doctor.” To help keep your memory sharp, eat a healthy diet, stay physically active, keep your brain active with crossword puzzles or new hobbies, reduce stress.... Symptoms of normal age-related memory loss include forgetting the name of a person you just met, forgetting where you put things such as a purse or wallet, and occasionally finding it hard to remember certain words when speaking." My interpretation: When the brain is not challenged it tends to go into dormant mode. It needs stimuli to stay wake and function. This is in layman's terms. I experienced this when I needed to isolate for other reasons and realized that reading helps.
I had to circle back and thank you for the crossword puzzle suggestion. I had been playing lots of Me vs Computer Scrabble before Pogo (the copyright holder?) went to a pay model...it's not cheap. I found a couple of crossword puzzle sites that I like, and am amazed at how much I recall the weird answers to even weirder clues from all the puzzles I've done over the years. Funny how some stuff comes back. I've been doing at least one per evening.
I added a new addition to my diet..guess what, it seems to have worked...ACV ...apple cider vinegar, 1tbsp in my salad, so far the arthritis in my knees have gone to rest. Let's see for how long!!