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From my favorite Aunt Lynn

August 14, 2007

George Carlin ‘s Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

‘How old are you?’ I’m four and a half!You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a ha lf!’

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay ‘them.’

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

And if you don’t send this to at least 8 people – who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

9 Comments leave one →
  1. August 14, 2007 12:53 pm

    May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

    God forbid!!!

    I confess that I simply do not want to get that old. I want to go out with my mind intact and my body still under my control. I don’t want everyone I know and love to have died before I did, and I don’t want to end up as a ball in the bed for my last years—as my Aunt Sarah, who lived to be 99, did.

    I think I’m going to have to blog about this…

  2. episcopalifem permalink*
    August 14, 2007 1:18 pm

    LOL Doxy – I don’t think that is the point of the thing, though.

    The point is don’t wait to be 100 before you start enjoying the life you have and counting the moments you have as something good, something to be counted – not something to be pushed, reached or turned. Time is going to pass anyway.

    You don’t have to wait to be 100 for that – although, if I could do so in tact, and reasonably healthy, I might wish to make it to 100.

    At least that is the way my brain took it.

    I’ve been told, though, that I have a unique view of things sometimes.

  3. August 14, 2007 1:31 pm

    Sorry, Eileen—I’m running on fumes today and probably missed the point entirely. Nothing new there… 😉

    But I agree about not waiting to enjoy the life you have!! I finally decided to take that advice, and I am so very, very grateful that I did…

  4. episcopalifem permalink*
    August 14, 2007 1:35 pm

    ((((Doxy)))) Love ya.

    Besides, we are gonna eat too much chocolate and drink too much wine to make it to 100! LOL

  5. August 14, 2007 1:48 pm

    Okay, go check out my blog—I asked the question.

  6. August 14, 2007 10:40 pm

    Nah, I ‘hit’ 50 this year. It’s still hard to believe because it seems like yesterday I was 30… where did these years go? In my head, I think I am still 40-45 but my body is telling me otherwise. That is the kicker.

  7. episcopalifem permalink*
    August 15, 2007 4:34 am

    That’s what my mom says Lee. She says she’s like 25 on the inside, and she gets up and sees some saggy skin, grey hairs and “turkey” neck looking back at her in the mirror and she thinks, WTF? She’ll be 59 this September.

  8. August 15, 2007 9:27 pm

    Children, children,

    whatever you’ve reached, the idea is to partay until ya feel like a hundred the next day. Or, if you’re that close, like yer two hundred.

  9. August 18, 2007 7:12 pm

    I’m with Doxy; forget this 100 business. I’m happy to have made it almost to 62, and I’m looking forward to 70. After that, I’m not sure about what life will bring. Two things I do know: Tell the people you love that you love them. And, get the best doctors you can find.

    I plan to be one of those who arrive in heaven saying, “Whew! What a ride!”

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