forum for ideas about aging

[larknm]

I would welcome a forum focusing on ideas about aging. For example, today I figured out for the first time that, my strength being diminished due to age, that I can cut through a corn cob by hitting the knife with a hammer a few times. I would love to know adjustments others are discovering. Or is it better just to have these, as they are now, as part of the subjects we've already established. My thinking is, I wouldn't think to post about these aging things in those.

[CathyA]

Would it be in the Health forum?

[razz]

Is it aging or simply health challenges that can strike others as well?
I have moved into a smaller home on a small lot that I can live in until I get carried out feet first with everything accessible on one floor, similar to a condo but freehold with fees that I can pay for once my abilities are compromised.

Right now, I am healthy and active. If I lived in an apartment, I would still prepare meals, wash laundry and vacuum the floor until unable to do so at which point I would hire someone.

Perhaps I need to better understand what is seen as challenges that need ideas?

[iris lilies]

Any topic can go in Open. Or, put a thread in Housing which I loosely interpret as Housing, Household Issues and Running a Household. Or maybe in Food (is it about food preparation? ) or in Gardening (are you making compost?)

Really, the existing areas are not rigid, make them work for you!

Before setting up a new forum, I'd like to have some assurance threads would regularly be posted there and I don't see that with "Aging." People who are under 30 might like that tip about a hammer to break up corncobs.

[rosarugosa]

It's true that tips applying to diminished abilities from aging might apply to younger people with disabilities as well. I would expect to find this type of thing in the Health Forum.

[Songbird]

Thanks, larknm for bringing this subject up. I think it would be great to have a discussion on tips that make everyday things easier to do, whether from aging or disabling conditions at any age. I'm in my 50's and struggling with severe arthritis in my spine and hips. I am needing to find a simpler way to do most everything....

[larknm]

I have found aging to be a different country. Health, yes, because your body is so changed (essential inner parts wearing out), but all kinds of other things too.

[awakenedsoul]

Acupuncture has helped me. I've also adjusted my exercise routine. I do more walking and swimming now. I work on strength more than flexibility with yoga. I also use a heating pad on my back and hips each evening. I work on sight reading music and singing rather than doing all the heavy physical activity I did when I was younger. I knit, too. It's good for the mind, and I love the warm clothes it provides...

[KayLR]

Good idea, Lark....and I agree...it's not ALL just physical.

[catherine]

I hope I don't throw a monkey wrench into this discussion, but I love getting older. Every time my kids complain about a relationship or a job issue or a busy-ness issue or a big life decision issue, the song that goes through my head immediately is Maurice Chevalier's "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore."

Maybe the only reason I wish I were younger is to take back some foolish decisions, but I can file those regrets away pretty easily. As far as health goes, I am lucky to have decent genes, and that being said, I try to strike a balance between taking it easy on myself and taking it *too* easy on myself. I'm doing yoga, and I walk a mile a day walking the dog. No aches and pains, and no chronic conditions yet.

I'm lucky because I have a lot of debt so I can't get too comfortable about resting on my laurels. The idea of working for several years more is a blessing, not a curse, to me. I have tons of ideas about how to keep the boat afloat as long as I can.

I try not to be in denial about the realities of aging. Hopefully, you won't hear I dropped dead of heart attack any time soon. I am enjoying the seasons of life, and fall is just as beautiful as the spring--just in a different way.

[goldensmom]

Are you specifically speaking of the physical aspects of aging because there are more issues relating to aging than simply health that I am experiencing, things that I'd not have thought of 10 years ago.

[Lainey]

I too am interested in more aspects of aging, especially as I approach the big 60 next month.

I liked Mary Pipher's book "Another Country", a non-fiction work on aging in the U.S. One takeaway was that we age by inches (I'm paraphrasing).
It's different than what I imagined when I was younger - I thought after a certain birthday you go sit in a rocking chair and that's it. Instead, it's sneakier: some pain in the joints, less stamina, less enthusiasm for finding out and doing the next Big Thing, etc.
Baby boomers like to think that we will all avoid the inevitabilities of aging, but I'm seeing them around me with family and friends.

Finally I agree with catherine that most of us would not want to suddenly have to re-live our youth, and there's a lot of satisfaction in getting to reflect on your own inner self for the last part of your life.

[KayLR]

Instead, it's sneakier: less enthusiasm for finding out and doing the next Big Thing, etc.


Yes, this. It seems harder to identify a passion.

[herbgeek]

This was the first year I had no intention of staying up until midnight on NYE (or even, going to bed and setting the alarm at 11:45). I always wondered why there were no "old" people out and about at the clubs on NYE- now I get it. I also wondered how old people got old people style, and how that happened. And now that I'm mid-50's, redecorating doesn't have the same attraction that it once did. I have a full closet, and really don't need any new (fashionable) clothes. So, its starting....

[nswef]

I've found, too, that it is very sneaky..not driving as much, choosing not to drive at night, sitting down to put my jeans on, wearing jeans and no bra whenever possible, taking 3 days to do jobs that used to take 3 hours. I'm 66 and have been retired for 14 years from teaching. When I read my journal of what I used to do...I would no more attempt those things now than fly. Flying holds great appeal as does the wiggling my nose to get somewhere a la Bewitched. I do find also that I stress less, I am much happier and take much more time to enjoy everything. There are perks, but I do think about the what ifs and don't like that.

[seedycharacter]

I like the idea of this thread so am reviving it for others who may also be interested.

Check out this great online digest on boomer aging http://fiercewithage.com/#

I'm savoring every single day. Being grateful for my health (especially compared with others my age). Prioritizing being with loved ones. Figuring out how to work less and pay my bills . . .

[kib]

I was born late, and have two older parents, 85/90, still alive. It's very interesting to watch them age, my mother slowing down reluctantly, trimming her activities a little here and there but basically still the same over anxious, (hyper)active person she's always been, while I envision my father as a flame on a gas stove, turning himself down lower and lower as the years pass. I have a feeling I'm going to be more like my Dad. I always looked at him and felt like he was just waiting to die, but as I age myself, I begin to understand his way of being - not depressed, just quieter and quieter, content with his life. They both become less effectual and perhaps less competent and brisk about their lives, but only one of them thrashes miserably. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" ... is that really such great advice?