Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Can you describe the experience of aging? Do you ever feel like your age is catching up to you?

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Yes. See if you like this:

Aging—a ride that starts smooth but eventually feels like you’re cruising in a car that’s gradually losing parts on the highway of life. Let me walk you through it with some humor and a sprinkle of hard-earned wisdom. Writing an answer about this subject in a serious tone makes me depressed. So, i add some silly humor. It may help my mood later.

When you hit 50, you’re still feeling pretty good. Sure, there’s a little creaking here and there, but time? Oh, it’s still sneaky at this point. You think you’ve got plenty of it, though there’s this tiny voice in your head whispering, “Hey, buddy, just a heads-up: the river’s not flowing like it did when you were 20.” Do something!

Then you hit 60. And boy, does time speed up like someone’s hitting fast forward on your life’s remote control. That’s when you start thinking, “I’ve got to do something about this!” It’s a wake-up call—not just for your body, but for your priorities. You begin trimming the fat—not just off your waistline (hopefully), but out of your social circle too. Toxic people? Bye. Superficial relationships? Deleted. Subjects you used to obsess over? Don’t care anymore. You get rid of some dumb friends and quit associating with some stupid family members who have chosen their life path, for better or worst. In my case, the relatives that suddenly have become freaking religious found Jesus, and all they care about is the Holly book of an imaginary god. One thing I don’t give a f*** anymore is God. This unknown diety is either incompetent or just doesn’t give a shit. Either way, these “qualities” don’t belong to the resume of an almighty, all-knowing. This diety seems to have let go of all these galaxies to manage, yet very focused on a bunch of humans running around on Earth. Purticualy this diety very concerned about these humans do when naked or how they breed. Just none of it makes sense. So as you age, if you are smart, you lose the God thing. The ones that persist on cultivating a God of some sort, will gravitate more just to buy salvation. It's sorta like bribing the universe or an unknown diety - in case there is a God to have mercy on their poor, pathetic soul.

And then there’s 70. If you’re lucky enough to make it there, you realize that number has a certain gravitas. It’s like your entire life’s memories decide to hold a reunion in your brain, replaying moments from every corner of your past. At this stage, your perspective shifts. Time becomes your most valuable currency, and you’re done wasting it on meaningless drama, dumb friends, or artificial relationships. You’re focused on what matters, and your value system transforms into something streamlined and sharp.

My Perspective at 69
I’m on the brink of that 70 milestone, and I can tell you one thing: aging isn’t something to fear if you take care of yourself. For the past 14 years, I’ve been consistently working on both my body and mind. I’ve embraced low- and high-intensity exercises, studied challenging topics to keep my brain sharp, and turned a deaf ear to people and noise that don’t add value to my life. Politics? Nope, not worth the stress. I voted for democracy and progress and got a bloated racist dud with a side of dementia. Lesson learned. I now have zero news consumption.

Does Age Catch Up to You?
Here’s the truth: age will catch up to you if you let it. If you let yourself become weak, out of shape, bloated, and mentally checked out, time will knock you down faster than you can say “knee replacement.” But if you take a proactive approach—stay physically active, eat well, challenge your brain—you can improve every aspect of the aging process. Sure, we’re all headed for the same finish line someday, but the quality of the journey is up to you.

So, yes, aging is inevitable. But with the right mindset and habits, you can slow down its effects and make your golden years truly shine. And let’s face it, feeling strong and sharp at 70? That’s a victory worth chasing.

Ask me the same question next August when I am 70. I hope I will answer!

Image? So, i use Midjourney AI to build my images for my posts. Here is the Text prompt to creat this image or similar images:

A detailed illustration of the evolution from a young man in his twenties to an old man in his seventies in four pictures. The left side depicts early twenties, while the right side portrays the present-day older man. Each figure has an expression that reflects their period and skin tone, set against a black background -ar 16:9 --v 6.1

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