I guess it’s just one of those days. I probably have the “holiday is done and I have to go to an office tomorrow” blues. But I had this thought while listening to my father bemoaning for the umpteenth time that getting old is hard: You either keeping getting old or you die.
There are no other options. And since we have many examples of getting old, we choose that. Because we have no knowledge of what dead is after the dying part.
So many cultures have tried to say what dead is. Some think your soul just comes back into another form or as another person. Others believe you (your soul) goes to a nice place called Heaven or a really heinous place called Hell. Some hold fast that there are levels or Hell (purgatory) that you could end up in and work your way up or farther down. Any there are may more theories and stories people tell each other to try to provide comfort or make sense of something to big for us to understand. But not one of these scenarios has been proven with evidence for us humans. So we continue choosing to get older until illness, natural end or unforeseen circumstances stop us from getting any older.
Aging overseas
Barbados is a country known for having a lot of centenarians. That’s one of my heritage countries so maybe I need to start preparing. Haha. Of course the lifestyle there is healthier — fresh food, more walking, somewhat healthier attitude about work/life balance — probably contributes. In Japan I also saw a lot of people in their 80s, maybe even 90s. Some still working jobs similar to Walmart greeters or in mom-and-pop shops. I saw many of these older people walking everywhere despite being literally bent at a 90º angle.
I see the evidence that getting old is very hard. Particularly when resources are short — like money, and family or friends are few. When health gets worse and healthcare more expensive. I don’t take my father’s worry aloud lightly; I’m worried too. But hearing it all the time doesn’t help much when you’re aging yourself and there is nothing you can do help your aging parents, nor your own future situation either.
Pinkpodster Ponders 