Getting Old Has Hidden Benefits
Getting older has really helped my overall social-emotional well being. I used to worry about a bunch of silly things like what people thought of me, or how I was being perceived by others. Actually hearing what people are saying, not having enough aches and pains to appreciate good health and just generally giving too many f*** about everything trivial. Now, the natural aging process has helped me deal with these problems.
My Take on Cognitive Decline
A lot of “experts” say cognitive decline as we age is a bad thing, but I don’t necessarily think the same. The more you are aware of, the more things that can potentially stress you out. For example, my hearing has gotten significantly worse in the last few years and at first I reacted poorly to this. Now that I have gotten used to it more, there are some slept on positives. The, “I didn’t hear you!” defense in any argument holds much more weight. People get frustrated with trying to communicate with me at times, so they just don’t talk to you as much. My ability to forget things has definitely improved as well, but when people see my gray hair, they tend to cut me more slack. This has led to less stress overall, or me wondering why I cared about half this stuff in the first place. This leads into improved lack of self-awareness. I find myself less self-aware, which, in a way, is liberating. Not feeling worried all the time makes me less stressed out and better able to make decisions, although prone to things like: missing freeway exits, not following directions or realize my shirt is stained. In all honesty though, these things are nothing new to me. It is nice to have a better cover story then actually having to admit I was not paying attention.
My Take on Physical Decline
When I was younger I had great health, but nothing to really compare it to, so I largely took it for granted. Now, I have a deep appreciation for those days on which I feel good, because they do not always happen for me. It used to be clear to me when and where I had gotten injured from something, not so much anymore. I have many injuries from doing crazy things like walking around the house, sitting and standing too fast, or sleeping in a less than ideal posture. Oftentimes the when and where of the soreness from an injury are a complete mystery to me. The old saying, “You don’t appreciate what you have got, until its gone.”, definitely applies here. It will be interesting to see what crucial physical ability declines rapidly or fails completely next. (Note to self: Maybe I should set up a betting pool?)
Giving Too Many F**** is not Healthy
As I get older, I find myself realizing I do not have that many f**** left to give. As a result, I have cut down significantly on giving a f*** about a wide variety of things. When you only have five f**** a day to give, you can not spend six. Finding an equanimity of f**** has really helped me balance my perspective and my life.
Anyhow, that is my take on getting better with age. Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone too much. It is meant to a funny article people, don’t take it too seriously! I have not written in this style in a while, let me know what you thing! What do you think gets better with age? Feel free to like, comment, follow, subscribe.…it is always greatly appreciated!
Additional Resources on how to not give too many f****
- Cats – Cats are the ultimate example of just not giving a f*** about anything….ever. I think this is why they were revered in ancient societies.
- This guy
- This book
What are your thoughts on this?