In another instance, I ran into a former student of mine one afternoon. He was in middle school when I taught him -- he is now in his senior year in college. Wow. Time really does fly. After talking with him, I suddenly felt old. My body began to ache. I started walking with a noticeable limp while making comments about the abnormally high level of uric acid in my blood. I started to panic about my gray hair. This is it! My body is breaking down one hair follicle at a time! This is insane.
So when do people start feeling old? I asked a few friends and here are some answers I got. You know you¡¯re getting older when you feel you¡¯ve used up all your youthfulness and lack the energy to even get out of bed. Sometimes, your memory is a bit hazy, but I think for me that happened when I was about 7. People start calling you ¡°Ma¡¯am¡± or ¡°Sir¡±, you get aches walking up the stairs, you value sleep over everything else, stiff joints in the morning, reading glasses, bags under the eyes, wrinkles. Yes, you know you¡¯re getting older. And it¡¯s going downhill from here.
Doctors tell us that when you hit a certain age (around thirty, for most of us), you have to slow it down because your body can¡¯t perform at levels you did 10 years ago and an injury takes longer to heal. Unfortunately, we can¡¯t stay a vibrant twenty-something forever. Eventually, we¡¯re forced to grow up and grow old. However, there is a chance that your life could start going downhill at any age. I¡¯ve seen old 25 year-olds and young 60 year-olds. Age is an attitude. Age doesn¡¯t really matter unless you¡¯re a bottle of wine. Age doesn¡¯t have any bearing on how you feel. You are as old as you feel. The mind is much younger than the body it lives in. If you have a negative outlook on life and don¡¯t choose to change it, you will be old. If you take care of your body and have a positive attitude, you will feel better and will likely live longer.
We shouldn¡¯t feel bad about getting older. So what if your once lush hair is going away to a lifeless gray? So what if the only whistles you get are from a teakettle? Who cares if you need to get a fire permit to light all your birthday candles? Just accept the inevitable and learn to look at things in a more positive light. Be a boon, not a bane, to those around you, and your life will never go downhill for as long as you live.
Cecile Hwang media@changwon.ac.kr
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