It's Time

We are all grown up as a society. Why do we continuously regard aging as something vile and unnatural and sad? When we accept such as global warming, God is deaders, weird politicians and professional protesters in our midst, do we still think of old age as bad. Everyone, without exception, regardless of anti-aging surgeries, cosmetics and replacements of joints will become old, wrinkled and live with pain. It is not unusual. It is natural. Recently, I read an article about a well-known singer who was to be placed, for health reasons, into an assisted living facility. The tone of the article made it seem a great tragedy. It's tragic to learn of those who are young having debilitating problems but hey, almost all people who age, as one woman put it, "have to put up with something". Amongst my aging companions, I hear tales about their sore joints, loss of hair, mobile issues and the effects of stroke and or disease. They joke about their problems and do their best to overcome the natural symptoms of their bodies beginning to falter and thus cause discomfort. They take medications for pain or therapy for ease. They try to appear pleasant and even if they talk about their situations amongst one another, most of them don't consider their plights unfair or unnatural. Aging is  perfectly natural. There is nothing shameful about it or distasteful or ugly or sad. Death is inevitable and no one escapes it: not the highest or lowest on the social scale. We get old, we die. We don't have to dwell on it, but truthfully, everyday everyone gets closer to it. It's not something to worry about any more than the coming winter or spring. Life is a journey. When we come to the end of it, we can look back and recall all of the best parts. Or not.  And how we do that is entirely a choice. Some go down the dark trail while others stay on the bright side. It is a personal matter and no judgement can be made on who and how that should work. I like the bright side and revel in the long life I have been fortunate to enjoy. Do I want to remember the bad times? No. We should honour, not ridicule or criticize or grieve about old age. It belongs to all of us. What the young see as distasteful seeing an  elder struggling along in a walker is not what the walker user is thinking. He or she is happy to have the walker or wheelchair or cane. Without these helps, it would mean taking to a bed and that presents all sorts of other health issues. As an elder, you don't have to jump up in the morning and do push ups or run the marathon or swim the channel to feel young. I know some elders who think that if they push themselves hard, they will stay "young" forever. That can lead to falls and broken bones. Try, but don't be foolish. If it works for you, do it but sorry, you still will not live forever. What you do in life, might live on. The secret is to do the best you can with the life you have.  Life, even old age is not evil. It can be a joy if we, young and old, accept it as natural and beautiful in its own way.