{"id":5243,"date":"2024-06-29T14:55:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T21:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/?p=5243"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:55:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T21:55:41","slug":"so-am-i-an-old-man-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/?p=5243","title":{"rendered":"So Am I an Old Man Yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

72 today. I am quietly rejoicing for having logged another year. Each year we survive is a win. But each year I ask myself: Am I old yet?<\/em> and every year, well, I can\u2019t in all honesty say yes. I used to think that 65 was the border separating middle age from old age. But when I turned 65 in 2017, I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling of still being middle-aged. So I shoved the border back a few years, to 72. Here I am. And damn if I don\u2019t feel a whit different than I did at 65.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about several of my birthdays at some length, and make a few points in those entries that I don\u2019t intend to make again. Here\u2019s 58<\/a>, 60<\/a>, 66<\/a> (I didn\u2019t do an entry when I turned 65) 69<\/a> and 70<\/a>. <\/p>\n

So when does a person become old? My hypothesis: There comes a point when it becomes impossible to live without a little (or maybe more than a little) help. That\u2019s when you become old.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a dumb question. As we age, things lose functionality. Little failures accumulate, with an occasional larger failure as a sort of quantum leap. A lot of those you can see coming and dodge; I\u2019ve never smoked nor done drugs and don\u2019t drink much. Low-carb has kept my weight down. It\u2019s unclear how much getting plenty of sleep helps, though from all I\u2019ve read it\u2019s a lot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A few you can reverse with medical help. I\u2019ve been told I\u2019ll need cataract surgery eventually, and whereas my sight isn\u2019t strongly impaired yet, I\u2019m not looking forward to the surgery itself. Joint replacements exist for knees and hips and probably a few others. So far, my joints are in reasonably good shape. Carol and I have been doing some intense weight training since 2003, and I\u2019m pretty sure I now have more muscle than I did when I was in my 40s.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written before, sure, I\u2019ve been lucky. That said, a lot of luck you make yourself. Simple caution and not doing stupid things have kept me from spraining or tearing anything essential. I practice sanity, refuse to engage in tribal screaming matches, and don\u2019t take myself as seriously as I might. Laughter feels good, even if you\u2019re laughing at yourself. I keep my brain busy.<\/p>\n

Yes, I now have a certain amount of metal in my mouth. In truth, that metal works better than the teeth it replaced. The rest of me is still original stock. I still have my tonsils and my appendix, granting that neither buys me much beyond peculiar bragging rights.<\/p>\n

All of which suggests that I\u2019m not old yet. I may someday need a cane or braces of various kinds. 75? 80? 85? Who knows? I\u2019ll take it as it comes. As a grade school friend of mine often says of life, Enjoy the ride<\/em>. I\u2019m a contrarian optimist. I am<\/em> enjoying the ride. And as long as I\u2019m enjoying the ride, I suspect I will not think of myself as old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

72 today. I am quietly rejoicing for having logged another year. Each year we survive is a win. But each year I ask myself: Am I old yet? and every year, well, I can\u2019t in all honesty say yes. I used to think that 65 was the border separating middle age from old age. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-noneoftheabove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5244,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5243\/revisions\/5244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.contrapositivediary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}