Plan B Forum

Joan Bakewell wrote this week that turning 80 means 'our time is passing, and we know it'. Meanwhile, Bruce Forsyth, 85, insisted that when he walks on stage he still feels 30. Is age just a number? Here, G2 writers of different vintages reveal their thoughts on ageing


How old do they feel?

I'm 54 but feel about 40. Could improve that if I upped my aerobic exercsie, cut back on the booze, and got out climbing/hillwalking/flying/partying with friends a bit more.

No, I feel at least 2 days older.

Forever 31.

I'm 53, and could stand to lose a little weight...but I have an amazing amount of energy and stamina for a fat man...even being out of shape, I feel considerably younger than I am...(I've got a gut I can't seem to lose, but I'm not overly broad overall...I've got great muscle tone in my legs, and I wouldn't be thrown off a plane for taking up two seats...I'm not particularly wide, just a little overdone out front...)

And with a 13 year old and a 3 year old, getting old just isn't on my schedule...no, it's not on...

I'm sure I'll get 'round to it eventually, but right now I simply don't have the time...

Do you feel your age?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I never thought I would make it to 40 let alone 54 (55 in June) so I figure I am on borrowed time.

Sometimes I wake up and feel great, ready to go and go the whole day with no problems. Soemtimes I wake up and have aches and pains and I don't know where they came from. I am less strong than I used to be, but that is getting fixed now that it's spring and I am outside doing yard work and stuff like that. Raking leaves ,cutting limbs (by hand), yard work in general is great excersize. And I try and take the dog for a walk of at least a mile every day.

And while I have stopped drinking, I do still smoke. One thing at a time.

Had my yearly physical a week ago and all looks good, liver, heart, lungs, ears, throat, blood work, cholesterol. 5'11" (haven't shrank ) and 190lbs. A little heavy but no gut to speak of.

When I surpassed 60 I began paying the price for 35 years of running. While I do not have a significant problem with arthritis, I now need to be careful to stretch appropriately before doing anything physical (and occasionally while doing it), and there are some activities that simply make no sense, given the real possibility of injury. I cannot squat due to knee problems.

I still work out three times a week, play tennis, bowl, golf, and don't hesitate to do strenuous work around the house, but I can now see how the deterioration works. Every year there is something else that I just can't do anymore, and if I am lucky enough to reach 80, I'll be down to walking and light weighlifting.

I still have a need to go for a little run every couple weeks. My interval training on the bike keeps my heart and lungs in fine condition. But I am sore for two days afterward, even with Advil.

It now takes me longer to do #1 than it does for #2. Not something I'm happy about.

I feel every minute of 63.

My dad is 80 and I would have to work out for a long time to be in as good shape. He rides his Hog and snowmobiles (although he says the snowmobiles are beating him up more than in the past), cuts down trees, splits wood for the wood burning stove and does general chores all the time at the lake house. Plus he's the road maintenance man in his "community" (12 houses spread over 400 acres with dirt roads, no pavement). He complains he gets tired around 2pm and needs to rest/take a nap. I need a nap just thinking about all the crap he does.

My age feels lumpy

Doesn't every man still think himself 30 . . . being completely shocked to see the guy looking back at him from the mirror?

Thirty? I still think I'm 20

Crackpot wrote:Thirty? I still think I'm 20

No beer for you tonight.

You never drank when underage?

Sue U wrote:Forever 31.

Ditto. Maybe 35 some days when my knees are bothering me.

Physically, some. I've had the kind of life which has made me familiar with hospital emergency rooms, casts, and a little surgical repair now and again. I expect that there will be some pain in many things. And pain to come after as well. It is the tactile equivalent of color and texture in vision. Age teaches me to sense things I ignored before.

But the main way I feel my age is in the time-displacement when I'm talking with 20- or 30-somethings. Like most people they took for granted the world as it was when they arrived and only started marking the passage of time afterwards. Whereas for me (especially as someone who has always read a lot of history) the past is a longer reach and I take less for granted about what is here now. I see things as more part of a continuum of change than as fixed points. But that may contrast my world view with many conservatives of my own age as well.



yrs,
rubato

as someone who has always read a lot of history

The two above are examples of the shit-bombs I routinely ignore. And do here as well.

yawn.

If any cared about facts it would be obvious that I respond in kind, but far less often, and to a lesser degree. But that is for those who care about facts.


yrs,
rubato

If you comment in them you are not ignoring them still I see little difference hewed. Those two posts and most of the crap you posted today.

rubato wrote:The two above are examples of the shit-bombs I routinely ignore. And do here as well.

I can only speak for my post, but I didn't care whether you saw it or not. You were not my intended audience.

rubato wrote: If any cared about facts it would be obvious that I respond in kind, but far less often, and to a lesser degree.

I don't see much from you that is "in-kind" and very little of what you write is a response to anyone. More often you add something negative to your posts that you hope will irritate others.

For example, "only someone with the meanest intelligence...", "Your area of especial expertise," "Meaningless, to an illiterate," etc. And you often blame something negative on Ronald Reagan or the republicans because you know there are a couple republicans here who might not like what you've written.

Also, the democrats never do anything wrong in your world and the republicans do everything wrong.

My point is that you are not an innocent victim as you seem to want someone to believe. You are just as guilty as the rest of us when it comes to making statements intended to criticize another poster here.

I hope that you don't actually believe that you are unfairly criticized. It's not true. People respond to you based on your written words. There is nothing else that anyone can base their opinion of you on. So before you cry 'victim' you should think about things that you've written.

However, the truth is much more simple. You obviously enjoy being provocative and irritating to others.

That's the choice you've made and you appear to be most comfortable with it.

Que sera...

Edited for a spelling correction. Probably missed something else.

I'm <40...feel somewhere between 50 and 80 most days. I need help getting out of bed some days (including today)...I always figured I'd be in a wheelchair by age 60. Days like today...err, more like age 50.