Growing older gracefully

An interesting books on what its like to be an young person in an old persons body is ones by Hayley Okines.
She had a rare disorder that meant her body aged seven times as fast.
She passed away a few years ago but its really interesting to read her perspective on life.
 
Lanolin said:
I know as people grow older, they may start losing their vision or hearing.
As someone who reads lots, maybe I will need Large print books or listen to audio books.

I am also an active gardener. I know when people get older, they cant bend down as much. I dont tend to bend down like I see other doing I safe my back and squat. Raised garden beds and pots are used by elderly to save their backs.

Another thing is bath time, I love my bath time, but I know when people get older they maybfind it hard to get in and out of the bath. Some kit out their bathrooms with handles and non slip mats, or have walk in showers.

This is just the physical aspect of things. But i do know if you keep your joints well oiled, thins like athritis arent a problem. I learned this when I was on drugs that dried out my nerve endings and affected my joints. i felt so old!

In terms of character when people grow older they either forget the bad times or hold on to them. i had many bad times wehn I was younger but I have learned to deal with them and let go of them. Nobody should have to deal with my baggage of the past which stays in the past. So I make the effort to look forward to each new day, cos I know ive been forgiven . Thank you Lord for helping me.
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I guess one thing that has changed is how I "work out." I use to enjoy pushing myself to the point of utter exhaustion. I would push myself until I had nothing left to give. Don't do that anymore. I recall attending one school, (Air Assault course), where I lost 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) in one afternoon. That would probably kill me now, but it sure was fun them. :)

rtm3039
 
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Thw workmate that was in the army really pushed himself hard I noticed. It was a bit crazy. He would treat work like a bootcamp. Maybe he was trying to prove something. But then the other one was really gentle and was like the complete opposite.

I think you do need to be gentle rather than hard on yourself, especially as you get older. That doesnt mean dont challenge yourself but dont beat yourself up either. If you cant do something you could ordinarily do you sometimes have to learn there are other ways of doing things. Or smarter ways.
 
rtm3039 said:
OK Lanolin, here we go:

No it is not compulsory. It was up until Viet Nam, but the "draft" ended in 1973 (No, I am not old enough to have served in Viet Nam, but Major and several others here did). However, every male, by the age of 18, has to register with what we call the "Selective Service." No one is forced to serve, but this list is for males between 18 and 26 and would be used if we had another major war and did not have enough volunteers. Females do not register; however, if you are a male and you do not register, you are unable to seek any jobs with any government agency (federal, state, or county). No student loans and you can end up doing 5 years in prison and fined $250,000.00.

I was 18 when I enlisted, but, had my parents signed a permission document, I would have gone in at 17. Since I enlisted, I did not have to register with the Selective Service.

I originally was only going to do three years and get out; however, I just fell in love with the military life style and stayed 25 years. At present, about 17% of people who enter the military stay until retirement. No one actually stays in for "life," but at least 20 years (minimum requirement to be able to retire). Like I said, I did 25 and retired at the age of 43.

There are more men (80%) in the military than females (20%). The number of females depends on which of the four branches of the military you are talking about: According to the Defense Department, women now make up 20 percent of the Air Force, 19 percent of the Navy, 15 percent of the Army and almost 9 percent of the Marine Corps.

Yes, it is physically demanding, but I have known some really "bad a**" women in the military. I knew one female that was on a 25 mile force march. About half-way, she became severely dehydrated. She had the medics stick an IV in her arm, strap the bag of solution to her ruck sack and she finished the march.

How dangerous depends on what you do in the military. If you are a cook, not so much. If you are in the infantry, pretty much. To date, women are not allowed to serve in the infantry, but that will change. They do serve as fighter pilots, military police, and other "combat support" positions which are no walk in the park. Obviously, we have been at war since 2001, so that is dangerous. However, that too depends. Since 2001, we have lost over 6,200 members of the military. In 2018 alone, 36,750 people died in traffic accidents in the US. Personally, if I had the choice of meeting the Lord in combat or after a traffic accident, I will go with the former and not the latter.

There is a very high percentage of suicides in the military. A new report shows that 20.6 military personnel commit suicides every day (I have had several friends end their lives like this). Of those, 16.8 are veterans and 3.8 are active-duty servicemembers, guardsmen and reservists. That amounts to 6,132 veterans and 1,387 servicemembers who died by suicide in one year. For several years, I suffered from what is known as "post retirement depression." It is hard to explain, unless you have been there, but being in the military is an incredible experience. You are surrounded by people that would not have an issue dying for you or next to you. In the military, words like "Honor, Integrity, Courage, Loyalty" actually mean something. None of this is available in the "civilian" world where it is all about "you" and not about "us." It takes a while to adjust to the "outside" world and that only happens once you embrace the sad reality that you will never feel the same as you did when you wore a uniform and served with complete commitment to what you were asked to do and those you did it with you.

Well, hope I answered all your questions. At the end of this, there is both good and bad news. It is 13 minutes past midnight here in Miami, so it is Veteran's Day; that's the good news. The bad news is that by the time I read your response tomorrow, at least 10 of my brothers and sisters will have taken their own lives because we have no mechanism available to prevent this. Oh, I should note that only around 4% of this country actually serve in the military, but the other 96% get tomorrow off too :)

rtm3039
CW4, US Army (Retired)
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Happy Veterans day my brother!
 
rtm3039 said:
Ok Lanolin, we (US) are not "indirectly responsible" for the DMZ, we are the DMZ (demilitarize zone). The DMZ is a buffer zone to prevent North Korea from invading south Korea. It appears you might not sully understand the circumstances at play here. North Korea is a communist country and south Korea is not. It's not a battle over who is bigger (US or Russia), but about Communism and north Korea's desire to take over their neighbor. There is no co-existence between communism and capitalism.

There are nine countries with nuclear weapons. Granted, we are the only country that has ever used them, but we spend a great deal of time trying to prevent other less stable governments from developing the technology. Further, there really are few, if any, counties that fear us. Some should, but few do.

rtm3039
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Peace through power.
 
What a pleasure to read this interesting discussion that has covered all sorts of topics from A to Z:)

I agree with Major, that people who are cranky at 80, were probably people who were cranky at 20! But people can change through finding God. I'm still trying lol. There's definitely a lot more to moan about as you get older, especially as your body ages, aches, pains etc. But hopefully your mind is wiser, and you can help your poor ageing body by being kinder to it. Feed it well, exercise it, and know your limitations.

Plus points: the things that really stressed you out when you were 20, really don't seem that important when you're 50... Shame I didn't know that then.

Anyhow, would love to post a pic of me now looking like a 20 something supermodel, but, like Major, my computer blew up:p


Growing older is something that you never think will happen to YOU, until it does:eek:
 
Annie said:
What a pleasure to read this interesting discussion that has covered all sorts of topics from A to Z:)

I agree with Major, that people who are cranky at 80, were probably people who were cranky at 20! But people can change through finding God. I'm still trying lol. There's definitely a lot more to moan about as you get older, especially as your body ages, aches, pains etc. But hopefully your mind is wiser, and you can help your poor ageing body by being kinder to it. Feed it well, exercise it, and know your limitations.

Plus points: the things that really stressed you out when you were 20, really don't seem that important when you're 50... Shame I didn't know that then.

Anyhow, would love to post a pic of me now looking like a 20 something supermodel, but, like Major, my computer blew up:p


Growing older is something that you never think will happen to YOU, until it does:eek:
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I am always hopeful God can change people. He does if you let Him. Some people resist Him thats all.
 
rtm3039 said:
No, these one's are a bit larger.

The main point I was making it that, while I have obviously grown older, I really have no changed much. Yes, I am slower, parts of me hurt a bit, but I have been blessed with a steady like that has not changes all that much. Well, except having five children, five grandchildren, a wife, and many years of experience.
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I've heard it said that as people age, they just become more like themselves.
 
rtm3039 said:
There is a 25 year gap between those two pictures. It really does go by way too fast. The other day marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Belin wall. Man, I was there and it just does not feel like it has been that long.
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I am right there with you my brother.
I was in the Dr. office Monday and told him that I had fallen about 3 years ago and hurt my back. He looked at my chart and said.....3..???
It was actually 12 years ago Major!
 
Annie said:
What a pleasure to read this interesting discussion that has covered all sorts of topics from A to Z:)

I agree with Major, that people who are cranky at 80, were probably people who were cranky at 20! But people can change through finding God. I'm still trying lol. There's definitely a lot more to moan about as you get older, especially as your body ages, aches, pains etc. But hopefully your mind is wiser, and you can help your poor ageing body by being kinder to it. Feed it well, exercise it, and know your limitations.

Plus points: the things that really stressed you out when you were 20, really don't seem that important when you're 50... Shame I didn't know that then.

Anyhow, would love to post a pic of me now looking like a 20 something supermodel, but, like Major, my computer blew up:p


Growing older is something that you never think will happen to YOU, until it does:eek:
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I love your comments!!!!!!!!
 
This made me think of heaven when all families are reunited again.
My own family some are scattered all over the world. My brother organsied a family reunion one time and it was really interesting to find out the history of my family and disapora. I remember going to canada to see relatives I had never met and its funny that wherever you go, family is family you recognise each other cos you have something in your blood that says you belong to each other.

Mum went back to hong kong for the first time in decades a few years ago and caught up with childhood friends she hadnt seen for years since primary school and then to china and the village where my family comes from. Now of course she doenst want to live there now but its her birthright. She wilingly gave it up.

I have my own birthright and Im not givng that up cos I can see that when people do, they have a conflict, they arent happy when they are away from home. They may appear so, but what it comes down to is they need to be home. Its why Jesus went to back to bethany to ascend as thats near bethlehem where he was born.

As we get older I think we value material things money can buy less and elemental things more. Were the jewish people really happy to be scattered all across the world and liivng in ghettos? No they want to be together as one family again. Its why israel as nation now exists. And not in some place like tanzania which they have no connection to but actually in the land God had promised them.
 
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