Question: I am sixty
years old and looking forward to reaching eighty years, however, it seems that
old people are so sickly. I am beginning to fear getting old. Are my fears
justifiable? Some people are already saying I am old, but I think I really look
youthful. Do I really have anything to worry about? Sign: Getting Old.
Answer: Dear
Getting Old at sixty! Wow! You are still young! I am hoping that at 100, I will
be kicking footballs and still having coital interactions with my wife. I have
53 more years to go. Many are really not looking forward to old age. Others are
presently not coping well with the sunset years. Some families do not treat
their elderly family members with respect and care. Today, many persons do not
which to reach the age of 70 or 80. Many have a false concept of what life is at
65, and family members usually neglect their elderly parents. Archbishop Fulton
J. Sheen said "I have been praying for three years to drop dead before I am
eighty." Could it be that many fear old age because of lack of care and the
difficult times they have during their sunset years? The Bible uses imagery to
describe God’s people and the elderly when Isaiah writes: "The righteous
shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon. They
shall bring forth fruit in old age: they shall be . . . . flourishing." Old
age can be fruitful.
- MYTHS ABOUT OLD AGE
- There are certain myths about old age that we need to dispel. Let me
mention a few. Many believe that senility is synonymous with old age. This
is not true. In fact senility can be prevented. It is believed that those
persons who do not develop themselves mentally and remain illiterate are
more prone to become senile than those who are mentally active and
discipline. Secondly, I have heard people say to elderly persons who are
suffering from arthritis and rheumatism that they are not to worry
"that’s natural, you’re old." This again is not necessarily
so. In fact there are many people under the age of 40 who are having these
diseases. It is not old age, but many time stress on life or even poor
living habits, including a poor diet, that causes these illnesses at any
age.
-
- Thirdly, many believe that old age brings and indolent, repressive
lifestyle. This is not true. Yes, we do know that the older we get, the
body tissues become less efficient in performing function. However, it
does not mean that we will become automatically physically incapacitated
or mentally deranged. Two months ago Hilda Crooks, who climbed up the
14,495-foot Mount Whitney at least 24 times between ages 66 and 91, and
died at 101. She began jogging at age 72. At age 82, she ran the 1500
meters in 10 minutes 58 second in the Senior Olympics. At age 95 she
continued to walk two miles a day. I was privileged to participate with
her in a walk-a-thon when she was 93 years old. She was the oldest in the
group of five thousand, and she kept up with those in the top one-third.
Just a few months ago the oldest active barber and beautician in the world
celebrated their birthdays. The oldest beautician is 100 years old. One of
her customers who was attending her salon for 70 years said that she would
not go to anyone else. Who would? The oldest barber at age 98 is still
cutting hair for the young and the old. Who said that old age means an end
to vitality and joyous living?
-
- Dr. Harold M. S. Richards, the founder of the longest running religious
program on ZNS Radio, Bahamas, was a very active man up to his death at
the age of 96. While in his nineties, he read the Bible at least twice
yearly, walked at least a mile a day, and was mentally alert. Earl Night
and Gale once spoke of a woman who at eighty suffered a major heart
attack. After she recovered successfully, she came across a magazine that
dealt with the value of exercise and proper diet. Believe it or not, this
eighty-year-old woman began jogging for the first time in her life,
changed her diet to a more wholesome one, and avoided all meats and
refined products. After a few years of this lifestyle, the doctors could
not find any evidence that she ever had a heart attack. She was vigorous
and strong. She made a lifestyle change at eighty and was still going
strong at ninety-five. Who said old age is dull and boring and a terrible
time of life?
This poem is most appropriate
by H. S. Fritsch
- Age is a quality of mind;
- If you have left your dreams behind,
- IF hope is cold,
- If your ambition fires are dead,
- If you no longer look ahead,
- Then you are old!
-
- But if from life you take the best,
- And if in life you keep your jest,
- If love your hold,
- No matter how the birthdays fly,
- No matter how the years go by,
- You are NOT old!
- GOOD ATTITUDE
Dear friend, you need not feat getting old. Your attitude, philosophy, and
outlook on life will determine how zestful and bright you will be in the
very mature age of life. Here is an example that defies the seemingly
impossible. The Hunza people located in the health and youth wonderland of
the Himalayan Shangri-la, a green gem set in the Karakoram Range, called
Pakistan, have found the secret of sound health and habits. They are happy
people who believe that 100 years is normal old age. Diseases and obesity
are virtually unknown there. Crime and delinquency are nonexistent in this
peaceful land. "Perhaps Hunza gave birth to the dream of eternal youth.
It is a place where people have discovered the richness of a graceful and
natural life in perfect harmony with nature. I have seen pictures of Hunza
men, all 100 and older actively playing volley ball in the sun. Once again I
ask the question: Who said that old age means absence of youthfulness?
Perhaps old age might be the unwillingness to be youthful."
HOPE
Here is more hope for the aging. As recent as January 13, 1998, the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC) said that they have
discovered a cellular "fountain of youth" that enables human cells
to avoid normal aging and cell death. "Normally a human cell has a
finite life span, dividing only so many times before it dies. But the
researchers found that by adding an enzyme called telomerase to the
chromosomes of cells, the cells continue to divide and show not sings of
aging or dying" (CNN January 13, 1998). Dr. Jerry Shay of UTSMC said
that "the process may increase the normal health span, but not the
normal life span" we are not saying that this will give people
something to make them live longer . . . But they will be able to live
healthy longer.
It is time that we take a new look at aging.
Go to Part Two
