Philosophy Now Forum

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Getting old...is humbling.



It's a series of losses.



Of realizing one's vulnerability and the brevity of life for all of us...


There is no escape. No turning away.



The one common road that we are all walking upon.





Listen, to those nearest to me, my family, my friends, my co-workers.


Be aware, no matter what words I hear, the message is, "Accept the person I am. Listen to me.


Listen, to those far from me, the whisper of the hopelessness, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.


Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside - in the deepest part of me.


Listen in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence.




Observe the self. The god inside of me.






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Bill Wiltrack wrote:Getting old...is humbling.

It's better than the alternative.

Bill Wiltrack wrote: It's a series of losses.

It's a continuous series of gains.

Bill Wiltrack wrote: Of realizing one's vulnerability and the brevity of life for all of us...

"The meaning of life is that it ends"....Franz Kafka

Bill Wiltrack wrote:There is no escape. No turning away.

Coming to terms with the bloody obvious is the first stage in the getting of wisdom.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside - in the deepest part of me.

You wear your fears very openly, Bill, but your tendency to assume that your personal anxieties are universal ones is a logical fallacy. Many people understand that living the examined life is simply a process of accepting that which we cannot change and changing that which we cannot accept. The art of life is learning how to make the distinction.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:Observe the self.

Chasing such a phantom is an exercise in futility. No sooner do you get a grip on this slippery notion and the Self has evolved into a new You who still lies slightly out of reach. Instead understand that this process of evolution is what the journey is all about.

Getting older is equivalent to not giving a crap since most of the crap is now behind you.

Bill Wiltrack wrote: Getting old...is humbling.

Which, by my reckoning makes you about 12.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:It's a series of losses.

You should learn to enjoy yourself.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:Of realizing one's vulnerability and the brevity of life for all of us...

When did that one creep up on you, Poor Bill? Anyway; now that you have figured it out, are you really going to waste the time you have left whining that you want more?

Bill Wiltrack wrote:There is no escape. No turning away.

Yep. Might as well get used to it.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:The one common road that we are all walking upon.

It's how we walk that distinguishes us.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:Listen, to those nearest to me, my family, my friends, my co-workers.
Be aware, no matter what words I hear, the message is, "Accept the person I am. Listen to me.
Listen, to those far from me, the whisper of the hopelessness, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.
Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside - in the deepest part of me.
Listen in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence.
Observe the self. The god inside of me.[/size]

If I do all that, is there a risk I will end up like you?

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I'm not old, but I can hear you, Bill. I asked my grandmother what it was like to get old and her account matched yours.

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........................Thank you. Thank you for keeping a glimmer of hope within me for the future of this site...





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Bill Wiltrack wrote:........................Thank you. Thank you for keeping a glimmer of hope within me for the future of this site...

Set your mind at ease, Bill. Even your puerile offerings constitute no threat to this site because your lack of respect for the forum members means that very few people bother to read them.

Bill Wiltrack wrote:.




........................Thank you. Thank you for keeping a glimmer of hope within me for the future of this site...





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I do what I can.

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The silence too.

Can't explain it but you realize that whatever we could say...just doesn't matter.


You talk less. Emotions paralyze you more.





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Dubious wrote:since most of the crap is now behind you.

Unfortunately for some, getting old is waking in the morning to find it is sharing the bed with you.

Harbal wrote:

Dubious wrote:since most of the crap is now behind you.

Unfortunately for some, getting old is waking in the morning to find it is sharing the bed with you.

Art thou forsooth referring to the winter of our incontinence?

Dubious wrote: Art thou forsooth referring to the winter of our incontinence?

Just making the observation that it is one of the possibilities we have to look forward to.

We start getting old from the moment we are born.
Characterising getting old as a continual loss is false.
As a 56 yo I'm more of everything I ever was; more knowledge, more skills, wiser, more understanding, more artistically and craftily skilful.

I'm not yet ready to decline, though eventually I must. But most people would regard me as ~"old", "an old fart", " decrepit" especially youth - but what the fuck do they know? They know shit.
I'm smarter and know more than most people younger than me, and that is how it should be.

Getting Old - is getting wise. If you've not noticed this phenomenon by my age then you have wasted a life. If you think being 56 is past it then you've lost the plot.

Excellent topic !

1. If your partner (also your ex partner) is about 10 years older than you then you will always be a young chick for him and as time goes by he will appreciate you more and more, as it seems ...

2. Things can go better when you get older. You can benefit from personal experience like hell, I can tell you. You can manage your migraines better, for instance.
You don´t make the same stupid mistakes, unless your are exceptionally stubborn.

I would not like to change places with myself as I was about 20 years ago, honestly.
I can see some steady improvements bearing fruit.