I'm not sure whether to categorize this question as rhetorical or one that I actually want an answer to. I've heard all the sayings: "You're only as old as you feel", "Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional", "We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing", etc., etc... I am the first to admit that for a 40-year old (I know some of you are gasping because I still act like I'm 17) I should be more "mature" (another term that requires some definition for me) but when did I start "aging", and more to the point, when did I start to really notice it? I mean, I'm old school from the days of no remote control for television and even before Al Gore was the only one with access to the internet.
I suppose we could all ask ourselves this to one degree or another. Some of the people I went to High School with have kids graduating High School now, others have kids in Jr. High and the upper grades of elementary school. The low percentages are those that are grandparents now and those that have kids not quite in Kindergarten yet (I fall into the latter). It feels like I missed the starting gun and am at least a lap behind. The good news is that it'll be a long time until anybody calls me grandpa. The bad news is that my children will have to change my diapers one too many times before they've had enough and throw my wrinkly bag of "dad" into a wheelchair and roll me to the old folks home. Orange jello on Tuesdays...yay!
But I digress. There is nothing we can do about aging or death. We can stop aging by dying early but that doesn't defeat my argument. Everything we do on this planet is nothing more than delaying the inevitable. A perfect illustration is Jack LaLanne. He made it to 96 after working out for 80 years. There are those that have lived longer but those people had some freaky DNA.
I try to stay young at heart by trooping. Most of my facebook friends know what this means but for those that don't, the nutshell version is that I dress up in Star Wars costumes and entertain the young and/or young-at-heart. Trooping is my Xanax, my Prozac...pretty much my happy pill across the board. Any of you that think I'm a geek for doing so, well...that's pretty tame compared to other things I've been called while growing up (which I still debate that I'm actually doing). I made my peace with my turbo-nerdery a long time ago and I've found it's just easier to embrace it. I also say don't knock it 'till you try it because unless you're a cold-hearted bast....*ahem*....Let's just say I guarantee you'd be surprised. My only concern is that my children will get the brunt of put-downs because of my pastime. I'm hyper-sensitive to that as I was the target of many a bully growing up.
Dang, I digressed again (although it gives me an idea for my next post)....back on track. To those that look at old people and go "eww" let me say a few things. I don't know when it will happen but it WILL happen. Here's a list of things I've noticed about me that I either fear will happen, or have already happened. Not all of these will apply to you but I'd be surprised if you don't relate to one or two of them.
You will find your optometrist telling you that your next prescription could very well be bifocals (this happened to me yesterday).
You will wake up one day and decide that you'd rather have something healthy (maybe Raisin Bran or something) for breakfast than something sugary and extremely un-healthy (maybe Lucky Charms).
You will notice you don't move as fast in the mornings and have a harder time bending over to tie your shoes.
Men will either notice grey in their hair (beard, moustache, chin slinky, soul patch, etc...) or they'll have less hair to notice grey in. Women will notice varicose veins and really start paying attention to ads for anti-aging creams.
You will look at other people and be envious of their jobs. I'm to be involved in a job training program put on by Deseret Industries. The local vernacular is D.I. and I believe there's a certain stigma that only slow learners and old people work there. I suppose I could fall into both of those categories.
You will find yourself deciding to stay in because going out becomes too much of a hassle (I hope this never happens to me).
You will pay more attention to health problems in your family and start looking for signs in yourself for fear that it might be hereditary.
I reserve the right to add to this list as I discover more.
You will all get old...unless you die first.
-LG
