Life is indeed too short, live it to the fullest our situation allowsDate: 6/4/2019 This is a confusing world and having a birthday that instantly transformed me into an official senior citizens isn’t helping.
I turned 65 last week. That is the golden age, the gateway to the land of riches that are senior discounts, a modicum of respect due to age and the point when one can see the end of the ride on the horizon.
Too dark for you? Sorry, but as Bette Davis once said, “Old age isn’t for sissies.” She is certainly correct.
I received many greetings of the day on Facebook, which was certainly heartening.
There are some mornings I get up and I feel like 35. Others feel more like 85. There are times where I feel the knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated over my life provides me with an edge. There are other times I feel like a bumbling idiot.
For instance, every time the cast of “Dancing with the Stars” is announced I realize that I don’t know at least half of them, if not more. I have to look them up on the Web in order to figure out why they are “stars.”
I know what the term “star,” means – easily one of the most over-used and least defined phrases in the English language. This loosey-goosey nature of the definition certainly applies to the D-listers that frequently are featured on the show.
Some of the stars are described as “social media influencers.” That phrase is one that initially confounded me. I was shocked to find out a member of my family – my nephew Stephen – is on his way to that title. He posts photos of himself and his motorcycle on Instagram and has enough followers he is getting free stuff.
Good for him. I hope he makes a bunch of money eventually through product endorsements.
What helps me is that I have a young staff who is able to explain things to their geezer boss. I will admit there are many times I don’t wish them to know the depths of my ignorance and therefore I look up the answers to my questions myself so I don’t look as disconnected as I probably am.
Of course I’ve discovered that I can fill them in on some topics, although I’m pretty sure it’s not an even exchange.
Recently I had to ask what non-binary means. It refers to a person who neither presents him or herself as either male or female. It apparently has nothing to do with sexual orientation but with their physical appearance as being gender neutral.
It took me a long time to wrap my head around this concept, I’ll readily admit.
I was told last week that now many people are putting a list of preferred pronouns as part of their signature line in email. So, you would put your name, title and – for example only – “he, his, him.” This way the reader of the email can tell the sender identifies as being male, regardless of any characteristics.
I’m not sure I would put a list of pronouns, but there are probably other words I could use.
I realize that people are living much longer. I realize that second careers happen at this time. I realize there is more than one chapter to a person’s life.
I accept and welcome all of these conditions.
At the same time I’ve come to understand some things about me that perhaps the millions of other people who turned 65 last week also understand – by the way, happy birthday. For all of the people living into their 90s and beyond, there are those who die much younger.
This simple realization has fueled my changing attitude. I truly want to live each day as though it was my last. I don’t want to waste time on unnecessary entanglements or people. I need to get a bunch of things done. There are more newspapers to produce and books to write – I’ve got three more in various stages of completion.
To my readers who have not yet reached this age please believe me when I tell you that life is indeed too short. We owe to ourselves to live it to the fullest our situation allows.
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