You've undoubtedly heard the expression about someone going through their second childhood. Well if a second childhood would be as good as my first one then I say bring it on!
Youth of Old Age
When I was in my teens and twenties, ages beyond thirty seemed kind of old to me and the age where I am now seemed downright ancient. Yet, now, nearing seventy, I don't really feel much older than the twenty-something guy I once was. Apparently I look older than I think I do, but I've been looking at this mortal frame on a daily basis for seven decades and the daily changes have been imperceptible to me.
If fifty is "the youth of old age" then where am I now? The middle age of old age? Or perhaps if I live beyond 100 years then I might still be in my youth of old age. My mind resists as my body often reminds me that I'm not a kid anymore. Physically I seem to have all sorts of limitations, but mentally I might be any age I want to think I am.
Age is not only relative, but it is also in the eyes of the beholder. I hear voices inside my head telling me that I'm still young and have many years left while from without I get the implications that I am a senior citizen--not like a senior in high school, but an old codger, an outdated relic of the past. I don't feel old, but there are indications all about me that I am old.
Well, dag-nab it, I ain't settlin' to be old any time soon unless it works to my advantage and in that case, okay, I'm old, now give me my damn senior citizen discount!
What age would you consider to be old? As you get older do you tend to leave certain dreams behind you? Do you think you "act your age"?
Ask the question to a kid, he will say you are old at 25 years old. Some seniors are so tonics, they don't look their age at all.
ReplyDeleteYep one thing I have discovered in that the mind often forgets that the body is not what it was many many years ago. It can be slightly annoying.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I act my age. But my body lately seems to believe I'm older than I think.
ReplyDelete"Old" is older than I am! My brothers are 10 and 15 years older than I am. In my 20s and early 30s I thought, "When I am 35, Mark will be 50!" and thought that 50 was SO old! Then, suddenly I was 50. It wasn't very old! Now I'll be 63, and I will admit my oldest brother, who will be 78 is "old." I guess 80 or close to is "old" to me now that I am in my 60s. Don't get me wrong, some "older" men are still very attractive! No, I don't "act my age." I am not sure what people would mean by that. Like my parents generation (they were born in 1914 and 1919) acted at my age? No way! Sure, dreams are left behind. Realistically, I won't get to see certain places in the world again. I doubt I'll find love again.
ReplyDeleteI hope I am keeping young at heart even if occasionally my body says otherwise.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Old age depends on the person, my mum is 80 but not old my father in-law was old at 60. My daughters say at times their dad acts like an old man and he is only 59. It has a lot to do with how a person thinks and how they care for their body.
ReplyDeleteI've done more growing the last couple of years than in my entire life. And for a change, I can say that without it being a joke about my waist...
ReplyDeleteI remember my first senior citizen discount. It came about ten years too soon. After being so bold as to ask, the girl at the counter said, she was giving them out to all the adults that afternoon. Crazy that... Maybe she was just thinking on her feet, and going for the save.
ReplyDeleteVoltaire gets my vote, please. Thank you, Lee.
Michael, funny story. Some places have given me a discount automatically so I wonder if they've kind of done it on the same principle.
DeleteI've recorded your Voltaire vote at the Battle site. Thanks for voting.
Lee