Life Goes On - Until It’s Over

Getting older year by year is somewhat confusing

By Tuula Pere

January 28^th, 2019

Getting older year by year is somewhat confusing. You are happy about all the things that you have experienced and all the people around you. But at the same time, you feel sad that this is not going to last forever. At least I feel this duality all the time.

When I observe others older than myself, I feel the past life that they are carrying with them. With these different backgrounds, they have grown to meet the later phases of their life each in their particular way.

There are the ones, who have never lost their curiosity for people and society. Those persons are still arguing, asking questions, and comparing their own experiences with those of others. At best, they can even keep on planning the next stage of their journey as did the two Spanish ladies in the photo below. They were certainly already at their 80ties but were enjoying their trip – and a glass of sherry – to the fullest. I guess these people are talking about living even if their personal life would be limited to a single room.

The opposite category could be the persons who are bitter about what they haven’t reached or what they had to leave behind in life. They do not have enough health or wealth, not enough company, and not enough listeners. In the worst case, they keep on talking about their approaching death for tens of years. The surrounding others have to console and comfort – and listen to endless complaints.

With sufficient physical and mental health and material resources, also our last years can offer a lot. But the whole perception of old age also depends on our attitude towards life in general. Of course, life is always full of surprises, and it’s not one’s own decisions and plans that matter all the way.

The barer our life becomes, the more important it is where our bed stands and who are the people around it. But even then it’s good to remember that all generations have a lot to share.