…but just a little longer would be nice
Every part of our bodies wears out, short circuits, or ceases to function sooner or later. It doesn’t happen at the same rate for everybody. You know people who look and act years younger than their biological age – and you know some relatively young people who act old and decrepit. Of course we all see ourselves as looking younger than our real age…
Aging sneaks up on you. You’re joints get stiffer in the morning, you get a cramp after your walk, there’s a new pain in your shoulder, and don’t forget the arthritis in your hands. Then there is the need for stronger and thicker glasses every couple of years, a hearing aid (mostly its that others mumble more), and trying to save those few remaining teeth.
Your heart, your strongest muscle, seldom lasts more than a century or so, livers do better without too much alcohol (a little wine might even be beneficial I tell myself), and your lungs don’t much like smoke. And who knows when you might get hit by a bus!
We cope by making small adjustments, then larger ones; from there it's relying on medications, and often more serious treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, or getting new parts. As a last resort we look for miracle cures (as if surviving this long hasn’t been a miracle) – it all seems to be part of the plan.
Every part of our bodies wears out, short circuits, or ceases to function sooner or later. It doesn’t happen at the same rate for everybody. You know people who look and act years younger than their biological age – and you know some relatively young people who act old and decrepit. Of course we all see ourselves as looking younger than our real age…
Aging sneaks up on you. You’re joints get stiffer in the morning, you get a cramp after your walk, there’s a new pain in your shoulder, and don’t forget the arthritis in your hands. Then there is the need for stronger and thicker glasses every couple of years, a hearing aid (mostly its that others mumble more), and trying to save those few remaining teeth.
Your heart, your strongest muscle, seldom lasts more than a century or so, livers do better without too much alcohol (a little wine might even be beneficial I tell myself), and your lungs don’t much like smoke. And who knows when you might get hit by a bus!
We cope by making small adjustments, then larger ones; from there it's relying on medications, and often more serious treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, or getting new parts. As a last resort we look for miracle cures (as if surviving this long hasn’t been a miracle) – it all seems to be part of the plan.
axman
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