We don’t all age the same. The evidence is all around us: some struggle while others soar and it isn’t always easy to explain exactly why.
Of course the genetic lottery matters: through no fault of our own we can be saddled with creaky and cranky bodies at any age; through no virtue of our own we can enjoy robust good health from start to finish.
Of course the situational lottery matters: some get parental neglect, societal disadvantages, geopolitical turmoil; some get loving albeit imperfect parents, healthy communities, peaceful times.
Of course our choices matter: we can waste our lottery winnings, whatever they are, or we can make the most of them. We can do both at different times.
But at this time, for me at least, the lotteries have been played, the choices made. It’s too late to make big changes in my circumstances. What I have is one remaining degree of freedom: how I go out. Not that I’m getting ready for anything imminent, you understand, but as I always knew but now know-in-my-bones, we’re not guaranteed tomorrow and even today can be uncertain.
At a shopping centre near my home, all green growing things have been subject to roughly the same growing conditions. This fall, some are fading away. Leaves that in other years would have been a bright orange/red, this year are bronze at best.
But some are going out with a bang.
I don’t blame the faders-away, but I take some inspiration from the out-with-a-bangers. Do they have any input into their last action for this season? I don’t think so.
Do I? I hope so.
Yep. Thinking about aging, agency and death today as I was still able to cut and polish my own toenails. So, not today. But plan on M.A.I.D. to see myself out.
Barbara – Maybe I should bring my toenails to you… 🙂 My back is often stiff enough, when out of the AM shower, that cutting them is a challenge!
This is the age for considering these issues, both philosophically and practically. I notice my friends in their late 80s and 90s have found their peace with the inevitable and have turned their attention to having a good time while they are here.
Quite right. It’s the pleasurable little things that have become important, restful and satisfying. When you’re young, you fight every battle. When you’re middle age, you pick your battles. When you’re old, you think, ‘what battles?'” Sigh.
Barbara – 🙂
Judith – Excellent. Maybe this is what the Good Book means when it says, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Don’t borrow trouble – or lend it either.
Great piece Isabel, perhaps the remarkable and eternally cogent Mark Twain said it best when he wrote… ‘Each person is born to one possession which out-values all other — his last breath’.
Was he envisioning MAID at the time? No, but he is forever readable and quotable.
Ken – Thanks! Between them–Twain, Shakespeare, Churchill, and the Bible–seem to account for 95% of all quotes. 🙂
The hardest years of life are between 10 and 70 – Helen Hayes
Sara Ann – Excellent! That means I’m in an easy phase now. 🙂
So…I guess I’d better live ‘er up because I’m on my way out.
Make every day count!
Tom
Tom – Well, and so are we all on our way out, from the day we’re born, even though we usually don’t think of it like that. But by all means, let ‘er rip if you’re so inclined.
One More Day
I wake up with
clarity,
mobility,
alacrity.
May the day bring
facility,
hilarity,
liberty,
and charm.
Without
enmity,
casualty,
or
harm.
Then,
at day’s end
to lay back down
in thankfulness
for this day,
and
no
morbidity.
Barbara – 🙂
Wordsworth got it wrong. At our age, we don’t get Intimations of Immortality — it’s mostly Intimations of Mortality! I think I’m still in great health, certainly better than many of my cohorts. But my blood pressure flip-flops between too high and too low. And apparently I have something unpleasant growing in my bladder — okay, enough of an “organ recital.” What bugs me is not these symptoms, but the uncertainty. At my age, even airline ETA’s are more predictable than my future.
Jim T – I hear your irritation, but I’m not sure schedule certainty is something to be desired, is it? Even if it were possible, which it isn’t, at least not in the normal course of things. You are, as we say around here, “playing with house money”.