Showing posts with label slowing down. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slowing down. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

More Side Effects of Aging

It’s not fair and it never ends, but I haven’t found a reasonable alternative...yet

I’m only half joking when I tell friends and family that life has several clearly identifiable stages.
          Stage one – You live and slow down gracefully from birth to age 60.
          Stage two – You age as much between 60 and 70 as you did from zero to 60.
          Stage three – The jury is still out.
It’s the truth. At a youthful 60 I could still run ultra marathons, work 16 hour days, and keep up with the grandkids. Not so at an ancient 70. Between the medical side effects from my prostate cancer meds and the inevitable side effects of physical aging the changes are clearly evident to me (and probably everybody else, too).

Slowing down, taking it easy, and enjoying life really sounds good—actually doing it has been a lot more difficult that it sounds. I’m working on it. But there are so many things needing to be done and watching somebody else doing them (instead of me) just doesn’t feel right. Being a useless old man is not something on my Bucket List. My wife nods and smiles whenever I say it, however.

Stay tuned—I’ll chart my progress, or lack thereof, toward the good if not the useful life. But now it’s time to take my pills and then my nap.

axman

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sleep More – Do Less

Everybody needs goals

Living a long time is good; being active every day is good; pretending I’m still 40 or 50 or even 60 is not – at least it’s not very realistic.

For example, every few days I need a nap and if I don’t get one I’m nodding off by 9:00 in the evening. There were times in the ‘good old days’ when I could work 16-hour days for weeks on end – and survive just fine. These days I’m lucky to get in six hours of working let alone eight or 10 or 16. And then there’s trying to remember to take my pills in the morning and take my pills at night (I’m not sure what would actually happen if I didn’t).

In my head I know that age and disease slows everybody down (sooner or later) – but I never thought it would happen to ME (I suppose most people feel that way)!

My father was still struggling with this at 90; “Why can’t I work on the roof?” Why can’t I drive at night?” Now I don’t like driving at night.

So, I’m trying (really) to embrace my older, slower self.

axman