Aging

[Geoff]

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
'How old are you?' 'I'm going to be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're going to be 16! And then the greatest day of your life! You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-puss. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.
Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away.
Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and make it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!
After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

• Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them.
• Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
• Keep learning.! Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
• Enjoy the simple things.
• Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
• The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
• Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
• Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
• Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the shops, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
• Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
• AND ALWAYS REMEMBER
• Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
• Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '...holy sh*t ...what a ride!’

[oldherbaceous]

Seems i'm doing something right then Geoff.

[Elaine]

Hello there! I'm a newbie to this forum - and to technology come to that! I have been dragged kicking and screaming into the world of computers! as for ageing--well, where do you want to start???? Being a lady "of a certain age" I am now resigned to ageing disgracefully. I will NOT have an old age. I WILL have a second childhood though. My husband murmers that I haven't passed the first one yet. Does he mean I'm young at heart do you think? Or just dippy!
Regards Elaine

[oldherbaceous]

Welcome to the forum Elaine, i would say your husband means whatever would get him into least trouble.

[Smurfy]

LOL OH

Hi Elaine, welcome to the forum and to technology

[garden_serf]

Hello Elaine, welcome. Good for you getting into new things. How does your husband get on with computers out if interest?

Geoff that was a very good read, thankyou
I will forward it on to my dad he will love it too.

[AnneThomas]

Hi Elaine - happy gardening for 2009.

[goldilox]

Hi Geoff,

Reading that made me think of my best friend who, at school at the age of 13, used to hate that I was older than her. Must admit I made the most of that. Unfortunately, for the last 30-odd years, the tables have turned, and she's had much more time to make the most of being younger than me.

I do have to say as a postscript, that I am only 6 days older!!

[Beryl]

Gardeners never grow old - they are always too busy thinking about the next season.

Beryl.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Beryl, how right you are, and it won't be long now.

[Shallot Man]

Hi Elaine. Being a computer moron with "A "Levels in moronic studies, just keep plugging on, you will make mistakes but so what, the people who use this site are surprisingly helpful. So do not be frightened to ask, even if it might seem silly [to you] shallotman

[Elaine]

Hello all who replied and thanks for the welcome. In answer to the question re my husband and computers--he is about ready to consign it to my compost bin. (not on your nelly dear, you aint ruining MY precious compost) Regarding technology, ye gods it makes me feel like a numpty. Hats off to all who master it with ease!!! Reckon I'll get there eventually. Growing stuff is easy compared to working out what to do with this gadget! xx

[Geoff]

My sister took up an allotment and a computer in her 70s - she has had to give up the allotment first as she approaches 80!

[Primrose]

My dad was still mowing his garden on a 1 in 6 hill) when he was in his ,od eighties. My father in law started to learn how to use a computer and passed his CLAIT computer exams when he was in his nineties so I have some hard acts to follow. However, when I watched the wonderful fighting spirit of Terry Pratchett on the TV programme last night documenting his fight against Alkzeimers, I would wish not to grow old if that's the fate that awaits.

[Tigger]

And of course he isn't old as he is one of life's unfortunate people to develop early onset dementia. Some of them are only 35 years old. It's not a diagnosis we would seek. For those of us who do manage to live to be over 80, more than 26% of us will have some sort of Alziheimers or other dementia and there's every indication that the proportion may grow.

Don't start me - I could talk on this subject for hours! Not least because at work I have to predict local need on a 1 year, 3 year, 5 year and 10 year basis. It doesn't help that I come from a family that doesn't draw their pension and my other half's go into their 80's and 90's.