How Old is Old Enough?

Life spans have changed dramatically in our lifetime…

For tens of thousands of years human-like creatures were generally content (or not) to live 30 or 40 years (should they survive infancy). The oldest and most decrepit might make it to 50.

Then, amazingly and almost entirely in the last 100 years, average lifespans have rocketed to 70 or 80. There are millions of people living to 90 or even 100. That’s a big change and probably largely due to improvements in sanitation, immunizations, and the availability of medical care. Great news, right? Well yes, mostly. Mostly you say? Yes, mostly I say.

It seems (to me anyway) that our genetics haven’t kept up with the changes in lifespan. The human-like body was designed to work at peak efficiency for about 30 years and then go into a slow decline, followed, hopefully, by a quiet death as a respected elder—if some saber toothed beast didn’t catch up with you first. 

So our decline may still start at 30 and continue for another 50 or 60 years. Much of our life is filled with system declines and failures…memory failures, blood failures, lung failures, liver failures, bone failures, hearing failures, sight failures, digestive failures, and on and on. And I didn’t even mention such things as cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other disease conditions. 

We all cope valiantly with these conditions and indignities—some more successfully than others. The world is becoming full of old declining people (like me) without the ‘respected elder’ status of earlier generations. Nobody seeks our wisdom or counsel. Nobody wants to hear about the days before NSA surveillance, WiFi, the Walkman, or even TV (there was a time before TV?). 

Knowing these facts full well, I am dedicated to continuing my gypsy lifestyle, spending my kid’s inheritance, and embarrassing my kids and grandkids whenever possible. So far‑‑so good. Who’d a thunk us humans could have so much fun for so long with parts that hurt, parts that don’t work, and parts that are missing. Carry on!

axman