How does a person face growing old? One of the most terrifying thoughts that usually bother people is the prospect of growing old. Besides it is one thing very sure to come to anybody regardless of status or predicament. This reality has spurred one of the greatest concerns in man that even in history, countless of expeditions were made just to find the legendary fountain of youth - a manifestation of man's vain attempt to stop aging. In fact, Florida was discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De Leon while looking for the elixir of youth. Today, the search has shifted to a newer dimension. Instead of scouring unchartered oceans and undiscovered forests, scientists turned to their laboratories experimenting and formulating concoctions that would be the panacea against aging.
Of course, any development in such studies would be definitely welcomed by the people, but looking at it candidly, we find ourselves waging a war against an enemy which is overwhelmingly unbeatable. Growing old is simply part of nature and as such, no amount of technology can stop it. Mortality has been made a part of our human destiny and corollary to that is growing old.
So, the best way to deal with it is to face it with joy and acceptance. Even the occurrence of significant physical changes can be born with dignity if we start with acceptance. Studies show that more of the physiological changes begin between 25 and 35 years of age. At this point, bones become more liable to fracture. Muscles, tendons and joints generally lose some strength and flexibility as people grow old and memory becomes less efficient as the number of brain cells decrease with age. The eyes become less able to produce tears and the retinas thin, so that at forties, focusing on objects that are close up may become more difficult. Additionally, studies show that 1 out of 3 people older than 60 and half of all people older than 85 have significant hearing loss.
One author though, commented that one will learn that he has grown old when he drops something on the ground and while picking it up would ask himself “What else can I pick if I'm already six feet down there?”
Nevertheless, growing older is more than a checklist of physical changes. On the contrary, how people age and what life they can have in their senior years depend on their approach to life and the choices they make while still young. Positive outlook can be one very powerful support in growing old. And among the benefits of growing older according to The Christophers Magazine, is the simple understanding that it is a time of both more and less. More time for good memories, less time for nostalgia. More time to enjoy living, less time of worrying about making a living. More time of appreciation of what has been achieved and less time to think of what has not been done. More time to spend time with a great book, less time of trying to ride on the fads, more time of walking in peace and less time hurrying in place, more time for knowing ourselves, and less time worrying about what people think about us. Finally, though physical pains bother us as we grow old, there should always be time for dancing in joy.
It is sad that for so many people, growing old is seen as a curse, a prelude to a total regression. But if only we look at it in another perspective, we will come to the appreciation that it is a process of a meaningful progression. No wonder, the ancient thinkers viewed aging as coming to greater wisdom, so much so that their society offered so much respect for the “long and gray beards” of the sages. Youth for them was considered a stage of imprudent temperance while old age was accepted as the fullness of life. It is important to note that when they bless people, they always include the invocation for them to have “full years” or to live a “happy old age”. Interestingly, living a happy old age is primarily a personal choice. It is neither a destiny nor an inheritance. Most precisely, it can be achieved by our own making.
