|
 Prepare
For
The Wonderful Inevitability
Called
Old
Age
| The
best |
| Is
yet to be |
| The
last of life |
| For
which the first is made
|
|
--William
Butler Yeats
|
Who
Is Old?
Any
body who does not want to lead an active and
meaningful life!
Any body who ceases to grow!
And, in romantic terms, any body whom
the beauty of the opposite sex does not charm.
Remember:
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It
is
|
|
not
the years
|
|
that
make us old.
|
|
It
is the putting off the ‘music of life’
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that
does the job of ‘olding’
us.
|
Friends,
“Olding”
is
a word coined to describe the negative mental
state of a person.
It represents not an old body but an
old mind that refuses to be young and active.
This brief write is not asking you to prevent
aging because this you can not do even if
you wish; it is only to tell you that you
can avoid ‘olding’.
And you must do it.
New
Face of Aging
Even
the definition of Aged
is
changing daily as the factors that may help
to add years to our life–hormones, better
nutrition, anti-oxidants, vitamins, exercise
programmes, yoga, healthy and positive attitude
etc.–are playing important roles in the New
Look at Aging.
Have a look at the Changing
Life Span:
|
The
Changing
Life
Span
v
In
1797, the average life span was just
25 years
v
By
1897, it nearly doubled to 48 years
v
In
1947, the average life span had moved
to 65 years
v
In
1997, it has gone to 76.1 years
v
By
2027, the average person may live over
the age of 100 years and some perhaps
even more
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|
In
this changing scenario,
at
what age one would consider himself/herself
to be aged.
?
The answer is at any age
when a person refuses to grow.
|
 |
A
Strange Paradox
In
our childhood, we all learn in our schools
how to write an essay.
We were told by our teachers that a
good essay is one that consists of a
good introduction, a
well-organised body, and an
impressive conclusion.
In the essay
of life, the introduction is the childhood
during which we prepare ourselves to be
an adult. The body is
adult life, during which we organise and
plan the theme of our lives. The conclusion
is the continuum of the adult life that measures
the effectiveness of our planning and organizing
skills used in our adulthood to prepare for
the happy
ending.
In
writing the Essay
of life, it seems that most of us forget
to plan the conclusion.
We make quite elaborate preparation for entering
the adulthood. But what about entering the
life beyond sixties. Hardly any!
The reason is simple. It is assumed that
nothing is required to enter the last phase
of one’s life.
The price is:
¨
Boredom
¨
Loneliness/Emptiness
¨
Insecurity
¨
A
sense of resignation
¨
Loss
of the ‘Jest of Life’
Preparing
for the last leg of the journey of
life
assumes added significance for those
who are:
¨
In
service to earn their livelihood, and have
to retire from their jobs around the age of
60 years.
¨
Living
alone because their children are settled in
some other places .
What
Should
We Do
Nobody can prevent aging
but
all can avoid becoming old.
 The
difference between AGING
and OLDING
is
fundamental. Aging
is an inevitable physical phenomena while the
olding
is purely psychological.
One
is old because he/she thinks it so.
The first and the foremost
pre-requisite for the
Happy
Ending is
to overcome
this self-defeating feeling. It is to be hammered
home that:
RETIREMENT
IS
NOT RETIRING FROM LIFE.
This we can
do only when we have a plan to
remain meaningfully
busy in our old age.
How?
Nobody
can answer this ‘how’ on anybody’s behalf
because the answer would depend upon the unique
endowment of each individual: his/her financial
resources, personality makeup i.e. whether
introvert or extrovert, educational background
and above all his/her natural inclination.
All what can be said is to find out what excites
one most within the limits of opportunities
and constraints and make it center
of his/her past time.
.
The
Role of Hobby
In
our childhood we were told by our teachers
and parents to develop a hobby.
Hobby is the work which one enjoys
doing.
In retrospect, the role of hobby seems
to be much more important in the old age than
in the child or adulthood.
At this stage let the Milestone:
Nine of the section: Can
We be Healthy without being Happy
be reiterated
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To
lead a happy life,
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we
all require a purpose to live.
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Purpose
gives us the necessary
|
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motivation
to live. It gives meaning
|
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to
our life. It is our powerhouse that
supplies
|
|
all
the power we need to achieve what we
wish
|
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to
achieve. Without purpose, life is like
a road that does
|
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not
have any destination. Without a purpose,
life becomes
|
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burdensome
and boring tale devoid of any
excitement, without any interest,
without any pleasure, and without any
happiness.
|
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The
surest
|
|
thing
to make our
|
|
old
age happy is to have
|
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a
well defined purpose
|
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and
then to pursue it as a hobby.
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