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Why do we want to live longer?
There is one thing about healthy aging that nobody talks about. Everyone ignores the outcome. Staying healthy is a futile race which we all will lose in the end. Death is inevitable. Still, most of us keep fighting to retain our health as long as we can. There does remain the very important question- why? Why live longer? Why prolong a life that gets more constrained and limited with each day? Why not just give up? The answer is that while you can’t stop physical deterioration, your creativity is unlimited. You can be better each day. If you work at it.
So what if you have no talent- you have time
I discovered this year that talent is a myth. What gives people abilities is practice; serious and consistent practice. The problem is that it takes years before that practice produces results. Maybe you didn’t have time to pursue what you really loved when you had a family and a job that needed your attention. In retirement, you can make that choice. If you are 60, you have at least 20 years, maybe more of unconstrained time. What are you going to do with those years?
You can use those extra years to become a master
So today’s Healthy Aging post is not exactly about health. But it is trying to make sense about why we cling to life when we know that all we can win is a delay of the inevitable. How does it all makes sense. There has to be some advantage for living a long life or else we would all move to Oregon and self-destruct. Sure you have the problems: the pains, the complications. You have the breakdown of your body. You can give up on physical strength. You won’t become a star athlete; the star of a ballet at 70 or a pitcher with a no-hitter at 80. But outside of physical abilities, there are some disciplines where your best work can still be in your future. There is a new book out titled “Lastingness:The Creative Art of Growing Old.” I haven’t read it yet but it is on my list. Despite serious debilitation, Monet while legally blind created some of his finest paintings in old age.
Maybe you won’t match Monet or even Georgia O’Keeffe with your painting but you can use these years to grow your skills and mastery, Be a writer, a painter, a musician. Age is not a barrier.
Don’t let your age be an excuse to stop growing
As earlier noted, there is no such thing as talent. All your ability is from the work you put in mastering a skill. Maybe you don’t have the time to become Mozart but twenty years of focused work can make you a master. It is up to you to make the commitment. What have you always wanted to do? What did you always wish you could be? How much are you willing to invest?
Don’t use your age as an excuse. Don’t use your impaired health as an excuse. Don’t cripple your mind because your body is failing. Focus! And achieve mastery. It is not too late.
Fear of Death. I think people want to live longer because of that fear of the unknown, or utter helplessness that must accompany death.
Enough morbidity. Why not master some skill in retirement (don’t like callin it old age)? We have the time. Most of us have the skills; certainly had the training to sit at a job eight hours a day. I’m trying to do that, in a limited way in Blogostan. You have certainly done that with your Blog. When so many of our peers can barely open an e-mail; You Ralph have mastered many computer tech skills, and work with a new century attitude. You’re a good example of ‘practicing what you speak’.
Thanks…that post spoke to me.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Love It- Or Leave It
Hansi,
Good. The more company we have on this last futile quest the better.
I have to differ on a point you made Ralph – Talent.
There is talent and natural talent. Great artists and musicians for example have natural talent, while agreeing that constant practice in anything can make a person proficient, there is a big difference in the finished article.
I had never touched a computer up to 3 years ago and decided it was time to stop being a technophobe in my retirement. Now I am proficient but certainly no expert and no matter how hard I try the technical side still confounds me.
Kids nowadays are brought up with all this technology and have no difficulty with it. In fact I am sure my grandchildren will be showing me ‘how to do it’ before long.
Your message was spot on, we can all learn something new in retirement but I see so many people that sit at home all day watching inane TV programmes and doing nothing else. They are just waiting to die really, how sad is that?
Bill
Ashton-under-Lyne, UK
Bill Murney’s last Blog Post ..The Battle Of Trafalgar – Modern Version
Bill,
I used to think so too but reading Talent is Overrated (The link in the post gives more information) I became convinced. It is all about good teaching and starting early.
I’ll add my two cents to the talent is just good teaching discussion. I could have had the greatest piano teacher in the world starting at age 5 and I would never have written what Mozart did.
I don’t care how good my instructor was, I would never run as fast as Jesse Owens or figured out E=MC2.
Do I believe a lot of talent is never uncovered because someone never looked for it? Absolutely. But, you can’t teach speed, genius, or intellect.
All that being said, we strive to be healthy mainly for selfish reasons. But, think about how much money and grief you save other people if you delay the decline as long as possible. Being healthy is a two-headed beast: physical and mental. We can only do so much about either, but isn’t it worth the effort to try?
Bob Lowry’s last Blog Post ..My Retirement- What Should I Expect
Bob,
That is a point I never thought about. You are being considerate by maintaining your health. I think that is an excellent reason. I am just too cynical to believe that many people think that way.