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THE PITFALLS OF GROWING OLD

THE PITFALLS OF BEING YOUNG

WAHOO INSPIRATIONAL SITE

A doctor is making a routine call to one of his elderly patients. He asks, "And how are you doing today, Mr. Johnson?"

Mr. Johnson replies, "I feel just fine, Doc. But you know, it's the strangest thing. Every night when I get up to pee, the bathroom light goes on for me automatically when I open the door!"

The doctor is worried that the old guy is getting senile, so he phones the man's son, and the son's wife answers.

A DRUGGIST'S BAD DAY

THE BUTTERFLY SYMBOL

Places In My Past
by James Taylor

There are ladies in my life
Lovely ladies in these lazy days
And though I never took a wife
May I say that I have loved me one or two
Of the people in my past
Fading faces in a waking dream
And though they never seemed to last very long
There are faces I remember
From the places in my past
I said all the dead head miles
And the insincere smiles
Sometimes I can laugh and cry
And I can't remember why
But I still love those
Good times gone by
Hold on to them close or let them go, oh no
I don't know
I just seem to sing these songs
And say I'm sorry for the friends I used to know

The doctor tells her, "Mrs. Johnson, I'm a little concerned about your father-in-law. It seems that when he gets up to urinate at night and opens the bathroom door, the light somehow goes on..."

Mrs. Johnson yells, "STEVEN! Dad's peeing in the refrigerator again!"

Submitted by Vinny to Jokes4U

Tsinoy says: Ewww! Yuck! No wonder even the leftovers seem to have fresh marinade on them.

Is old age a curse? How many embarrassing moments must old people endure, how many indignities do they have to go through, until it's time to cross the great divide?

Why do old people get memory lapses? Why do they mislay their eyeglasses, lose their keys, or forget to turn off the gas? What happened to all the training and discipline that they nurtured through the years? Where has the strength of character gone?

James Hillman, in his book "The Force of Character,", says that character consists in deposits, especially errors and misfortunes that have been left behind in memory that we work over in later years. What makes it possible is that as we age, our capacity for long term memory improves. The downside is, our capacity for short-term memory declines. Hence, as we age, we become forgetful.

Geriatric psychology, Hillman says, finds that older people spend more and more time taking stock doing a "life review". He adds that the gathering of old images to the exclusion of recent events seems imposed on the aged, as the soul insists on
this review.

And why do old people go over their past? Hillman cites the following reasons:

One, they want to understand their character to gain further insight on themselves. Maybe, this is what old people mean in their deathbed when they say that the legacy they want to leave behind is their force of character for their progeny to remember them by, to take pride in, if not to emulate. Isn't that more lasting than the material things that we get to inherit from them?

Two, They review to commemorate their achievements and peak moments in their life. It becomes a fruitful exercise as the need for praise, recognition from others become less. Hillman's powerful words are, "Needing less, depending less also means being less lonely and more dignified."

In our contemporary world, the young are reluctant to give responsibility at home to their old folks lest they ruin the job. They could burn the whole house if they forget to turn off the gas, they say. Also, we easily dismiss their ramblings with a smirk as sounding like a broken record. But if we leave them to their reminiscences - even help them grow into it - we begin to empower them. We help them reach what every person aspires to achieve in their lifetime, which is self esteem and self-realization.

Three, they review patterns in their past to make it more discernible. Thus, an unrequited love or a failed relationship becomes a part of a colourful tapestry until every single thread becomes a part of their life story. It is akin to writing a novel with twists and turns, until the plot climaxes into the triumph of will and character by the main protagonist. And just as we look for the moral lesson of the stories that we read, this life review also asks old people to distil their notable character traits into redeeming values, and to transform these values into gems of wisdom of their generation.

Finally, a recollection of things past becomes a pleasant exercise. All those troubles and heartaches, rivalries and betrayals, even despair and longings, all these human failings suddenly become bearable. In the old people's imaginings, the hurts sometimes acquire a redeeming value. They say failures in the past made them stronger and more capable of facing challenges.

Is there a role for these lightening up of past failings in recollection? The author suggests that this is a subtle hint that the soul is letting go of the weights it has been carrying, preparing to lift off more easily. He says the powerful process of letting go is called forgiveness. It is also a blessing.

I have come to the end of this piece. I feel like I have rambled on and on, just like the old people in Hillman's book. I know I am getting there. I can feel it in my bones.

But old age or not, I do take pleasure in remembering things past. It may not make a good copy for a blockbuster autobiography - but it has certainly enriched my coping in life through middle age. I will certainly cherish the friendships that I made and continue to make, just as I enjoy reaching out to all of you, dear folks out there in cyberspace.

Cheers.

Tsinoy

Background music "Places in my Past" by James Taylor
Animations borrowed from Animated GIF Finder, Harry and Dorret Goodwin's Homepage and Animated GIFS.net