Greetings from My Mountain Cabin,
You are no doubt among the many who regularly receive emails spoofing the aging process. And you are also probably aware of the old axiom, "behind every jest there lies a grain of truth."
I suspect viewing growing older with amusement is the equivalent of the "dark humor" used by those in the medical profession to lighten the emotional burden that often accompanies their daily interaction with patients.
Perhaps, in a similar manner, looking through a lens of laughter at the physical and mental decline that seems to inevitably accompany old age lessens an inner unspoken terror.
In fact, we need not be dragged, kicking and screaming, into our "Golden Age."
A friend from long ago was a member of the Christian Science faith. Joe was the kind of guy who enjoyed philosophical discussions and had little use for surface-level small talk. Joe and I were having a dialogue about faith and religion one evening (something I still tremendously enjoy doing) when I felt prompted to ask him, "Joe, just how old are you?"
His answer was something I shall never forget. He paused for a moment and replied, "Ed . . . how old is a soul?" Joe was not trying to be flippant or casually dismiss my question. He was quite sincere.
Christian Scientists (Joe liked to refer to his identity within this religious denomination as being simply a Scientist) believe human beings are ageless since we have always existed as a very real identity in the mind of God. Further, our time on this planet is simply the illusory physical effect of mortal mind, since we are, in essence, pure spirit.
In fact, Joe was probably fifty-something at the time, but that awareness did not cloud his perception of his true being.
As baseball legend Satchel Paige once said, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" Joe was satisfied by his conviction that who and what he was had no linear-sequential time reference.
In a society often preoccupied with youthful appearance, countless thousands of dollars are spent in facelifts, liposuction, surgical enhancements—including (hard to believe) biceps and also booty implants—all in an effort to hold on to a youthful physiognomy. It seems almost a sin to allow oneself to grow old gracefully.
Yet, becoming old is more a matter of mindset than physical decline.
I think General Douglas MacArthur was on to something when he said, "You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair."
In the movie, The Bucket List, two terminally ill cancer patients set out on a series of adventures to experience those things that they had put off in earlier years.
If you do not have a bucket list, make one! Get out of Dodge while you still have the physical vitality and flexibility to pursue things novel and unique. And remember . . .
"There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward." ~John Mortimer
Be well, do good work, keep in touch,
Ed
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