How does getting older compare to expectations?

[diver dave]

. .



I no longer ride dirt or street bikes, fly light planes or cave dive. My scuba nowadays is very conservative and I'm proud to say that I'm a recreational diver, not a technical diver. My only real hobby is boating. But I'm still planning on taking my trawler to Antarctica one day, so haven't given up on life yet.



Just have to adapt and modify your risk tolerance as you get older.

No more cave diving. I think u are taking this too far. Why not just cut out the double stage dives and 100 m deep dives. That is what i have effectively done.
And, will go rebreather soon. Less lifting.

 

[backinblue]

I'm not sure how a motorcycle accident relates to age. I know a woman who had a m/c accident at about age 30 and has been paralyzed from the neck down since. I think the question is more about how are you doing at your age vs. how you thought you would be doing.

I actually remember being about 10 and talking with my friends about how cool it would be to see the changing of centuries at the 2000 new year. We did the math and realized we'd be around 40+ and since our parents were around that age, we figured we had a good chance of making it. As I got older, I was a bit obsessed with diet and excercise and felt I was invincable. I assumed I'd live to be an active 100 y.o. I was never sick and never in the hospital except some stiches in the ER from a sports mishap. I played very competitive sports until about 50 when arthritis forced me to stop. Now in my 60's I have declined quite a bit in the past 10 years. Hip replaced, cancerous prostate removed, a bout of pancreatitis, etc. A woman about 10 years younger than me just had a heart attack and is in intensive care and may not make it.

So what's my point? Aging sucks and you can't predict or prevent what may happen, you just have to deal with it when it does. Do your best to make good choices in life, but that by no way guarentees a good outcome, just increases your chances a little. My mom, now in her late 80's says that 70's are not that old, but 80's are. I wonder if she will say the same thing if she reaches 90. We tend to think in terms of decades which I think is a fair barometer of the "steps" we go through in old age.

 

[BandB]

I'm not sure how a motorcycle accident relates to age.

Wifey B: I think it relates to one's decision making criteria changing. I value my skin too much to ever ride motorcycles, but I've definitely given up some unwise activities from my younger days. I think I grasp the danger. I know I love life more and really want to stay alive. I once was more on the take it or leave it side on the future but now I absolutely want all I can get. I also understand that with age, recovery is slower and more difficult and can involve complications. I do think of risks differently than I did when younger. I know at 40 something, I look forward to the future much more than I did in my teens as I have a brighter future than I imagined then and I can envision at least part of what it looks like. I think when young you often live in the moment, but today I do enjoy the moment but I savor all the moments to come as well.

 

[backinblue]

I don't know, I guess everyone is different. My take is that you can be paralyzed from a motorcycle accident at 30 or at 70. I'd prefer 70. Personally, I don't think I assess risk today as much as I do what I am capable of. I stopped riding motorcylcles when I no longer felt I could do so safely and comfortably and enjoyably, not because I was afraid of the risk and wanted to live a little longer. I'd love to go skiing again and I might still, but I don't think about breaking a bone any more than I did when I was 20. If I don't go, it's because I don't know if I am capable of doing so and getting up when I fall down. I live for the moment now as much as I ever did. Getting old is no time to be scared, in fact it's quite the opposite. I am more likely today to not care if I die tomorrow then when I was young. Old age is no time to crawl into a cocoon and be safe. YMMV.

 

[Bigsfish]

Old age is not for the weak or infirm. Things that were simple to do years ago are not today. I not scared of dying I just not want to die in pain, quickly is good. I no longer run, ride motorcycles, scuba dive, big game hunt. It’s better to live in my memories, safer too.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks BigFish and I agree. I am facing some things and i don't want to live a miserable life just to prolong the years. Live while you can and accept death when you can't. Squeezing out another couple years of exisiting is not my goal. Neither was dying at a younger age, but that's not always within our control.

 

[Bigsfish]

My dad died about 12 years ago and he went quick once he didn’t take dialysis ( he hated going for treatment so I rented a unit for his house and that took him a number of years before he got tired. He went quick. My mom went slowly, once she couldn’t drive I had 24 hour care for her and a driver, she lasted about four or five years until she went the hospital, she was in her mid 90s. I spoke to her doctor about not trying to bring her back. It was the right call as she had a miserable life and thought I was her husband. My dad passed in a much better way. Both were sad. I visited them every day for years. When it is my time I want to go quickly.
Dying is easy compared to living.

 

[DBL]

Changing Definitions...

In my 40s, I thought of retirement as just stopping work (a stressful corporate vp life) and spending my time enjoying the beach (or sailing, etc).

I retired at 58, seven years ago. The time has been spent doing volunteer work, helping my wife and kids, building some stuff and getting fit.

A friend in his 70s told me that "retirement is doing the work you always wanted to do, with people you respect, on a time scale that works for you."

I think he's on the right track. The mix of time in a canoe and time working on projects isn't something I could have envisioned at 40. It's better.

 

[SteveK]

A friend in his 70s told me that "retirement is doing the work you always wanted to do, with people you respect, on a time scale that works for you."

That rings true for me as well. Work keeps getting in the way of doing what I want to do.

 

[Bigsfish]

D B L. That sounds perfect, congrats. I retired at 50, I had enough money and had no desire for more power so I pulled the plug and enjoyed what I had. Now in my decline I’m happy to have had what I did.

 

[BandB]

A friend in his 70s told me that "retirement is doing the work you always wanted to do, with people you respect, on a time scale that works for you."

Great quote. It's not doing nothing, but it's doing what you want, when you want.

 

[Blues]

At 72 the aging process has gone much better than expected. My 50s were great and much to my surprise my 60s were that much better. Of course I’m ever aware that there are less and less good years but I try to live as though I’m going to be around for awhile. Aches and pains come with the territory, recovery takes longer, no miracles there and I don’t expect any.
I retired at 66 because I’d accomplished everything I’d hoped to and didn’t see anything particularly interesting on the horizon that and I’d grown weary of the constant travel, deadl lines, “goals” - still hate that word -, and wackos. I used to say the job is the adventure, and it was. Until it wasn’t.
How did I get here? Last year I realized that the days I wanted to go sailing I no longer trusted myself and the days I trusted myself I wasn’t interested in sailing. So I now have a trawler under agreement and spend a couple hours a day pouring over cruising guides and getting more and more excited about this potential new life style. Of course it didn’t happen nice and neat like that, with me it never does.