Are you scared of getting old?

Peared

I dont wanna do it personally. I know people talk about wisdom and all that malarky but feck that.

And ladies, we get judged so much by the way we look, how do yiz feel about losing your looks? Or do you think that ageing automatically means losing looks? Men tend to grow into themselves and can look more handsome in their 40's than in their 20s but women are seen as past it once they hit late 30s.

Any good points about getting old, any at all?

Peared says noo noo no.

Sabre0001

I don't think I'm worried by the prospect of getting old - more that I won't have done enough or taken advantage of the time and youth, etc on my side...There are a lot of things I want to do (and some really big dreams that I would love to look back on and say "I did that!")

Would also like to have something to show for all my years...

Rb

I'm a guy and am horrified at the thought of getting old. There's nothing good about it whatsoever.

As another boardsie put it, I'm going through a "I'm now an adult and not quite sure I like it" phase at the moment, and I'm only 22.

Predhead

No. Having said that hopefully I'll be a dad and grandad when I'm old. And I'll have the right to complain about ANYTHING and people will just agree with me. I'll get a bus pass, discounts for stuff. It a'int all bad. Except that you're close to death. Which may not be all that bad either who knows!?!

Ruu_Old

I am a little concerned when I see the state my grandad is in, 90 years old and in a nursing home. For the most part, only my Mam goes to visit him and look after him (aside from the nurses there), the rest of the family seemed to have forgotten. That said, majority of them are in Dublin and get down every once in a while but not near enough.
Hope to keep myself in good enough shape that I can still get around without too much help, hate depending on people.

Pighead

As a wise scholar once said "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many."

Peared

Ruu wrote: »

I am a little concerned when I see the state my grandad is in, 90 years old and in a nursing home. For the most part, only my Mam goes to visit him and look after him (aside from the nurses there), the rest of the family seemed to have forgotten. That said, majority of them are in Dublin and get down every once in a while but not near enough.
Hope to keep myself in good enough shape that I can still get around without too much help, hate depending on people.

See thats it. It's just sh!t and sad and makes me want to cry.

Quick painless death after achieving all ambitions and getting affairs in order ftw.

Mr. Presentable

Pighead wrote: »

As a wise scholar once said "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many."

PH is right. I'd prefer to get old than not get old.

Peared

Pighead wrote: »

As a wise scholar once said "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many."

Indeed.

But I regret having that chocolate cake a while back and there are people starving in the world who cannot and never will have cake.

Rb

Ruu wrote: »

I am a little concerned when I see the state my grandad is in, 90 years old and in a nursing home. For the most part, only my Mam goes to visit him and look after him (aside from the nurses there), the rest of the family seemed to have forgotten. That said, majority of them are in Dublin and get down every once in a while but not near enough.
Hope to keep myself in good enough shape that I can still get around without too much help, hate depending on people.

Aye, my grandad is in a similar state. It's certainly one that I never want to see myself in anyway, should the wife die and I find myself deteorating into such a state I'll probably just shoot myself, I do not want to die a slow and lonely death in a place where people are paid to show concern for me.

hopalong85

Rb wrote: »

I'm a guy and am horrified at the thought of getting old. There's nothing good about it whatsoever.

As another boardsie put it, I'm going through a "I'm now an adult and not quite sure I like it" phase at the moment, and I'm only 22.

That more or less completely sums up how i feel, 22 year old guy as well.

Latchy

Getting old or older rmeans not having the hang ups and angst that you had as a teen and twenty somthing .

It's replaced by another type of angst called mid life crisis ,middle age spread

Wertz

Peared wrote: »

Any good points about getting old, any at all?

Well I'd say the fact that you're still alive is a big plus. Unless you subscribe to this theory of dying young and having a good looking corpse bullsh*t...

The only thing that scares me about growing older is doing it alone and loosing family and friends to the grim reaper.
People put far too much emphasis on youthful looks, vibrancy and such...

elmolesto

Pighead wrote: »

As a wise scholar once said "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many."

+1

I'm not worried at all of getting old.

Peared

Wertz wrote: »

Well I'd say the fact that you're still alive is a big plus. Unless you subscribe to this theory of dying young and having a good looking corpse bullsh*t...

The only thing that scares me about growing older is doing it alone and loosing family and friends to the grim reaper.
People put far too much emphasis on youthful looks, vibrancy and such...

Yes but when you get to certain age/state being alive is not always the preferable option.

To me being old seems scary and lonely and you generally get ignored and/or treated like sh!t by a lot of people and you have to watch all your friends and family die. There are exceptions of course and some older people have wonderful familes and great lives but still.

Scares me.

Shryke

Getting older doesn't bother me in the least. Making something of my life and myself as a person while I have the time is the issue.

Latchy

Peared wrote: »

Yes but when you get to certain age/state being alive is not always the preferable option.

To me being old seems scary and lonely and you generally get ignored and/or treated like sh!t by a lot of people and you have to watch all your friends and family die. There are exceptions of course and some older people have wonderful familes and great lives but still.

Scares me.

It's just part of the life cycle and everybody will expierence .Think it's the idea of maybe having to go into a filthy hospital ,picking up some disease and depending on some stranger to look after your needs, is quite frightning for a lot of old people and rightly so .
.

elmolesto

Pighead wrote: »

As a wise scholar once said "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many."

+1

I'm not worried at all of getting old.

Rb

The sooner they release the cure to aging the better.

These things can revert to a previous area in their life cycle, over and over again making them immortal. THEY'RE F*CKING JELLYFISH! Of all the things on Earth, it's a f*cking jellyfish that gets the immortality.

That, in itself, proves that there is indeed no such thing as God.

Wertz

Peared wrote: »

Yes but when you get to certain age/state being alive is not always the preferable option.

Okay that's a fair point but I'll guarantee you that almost anyone at any age will choose to hang on to that little bit of life they have left rather than end it all (unless suicide and/or terminal illness/pain comes into it)...comments like RB's, alluding to "Ah when I get to 70, someone just shoot me and put me out of my misery", are all fine and dandy to be making in your early 20's...but ask him again in 50 years...

Peared wrote: »

To me being old seems scary and lonely and you generally get ignored and/or treated like sh!t by a lot of people and you have to watch all your friends and family die. There are exceptions of course and some older people have wonderful familes and great lives but still.

Scares me.

I see that side of it too...I have a good few elderly relatives, but when I talk with them, I know they have mostly enjoyed their lives, their kids and grandkids and that they still enjoy life, even though these modern times are so much different than when they were young. But I hvae one grnad uncle that never married, never had kids, lived the bachelor life...now he's in a nursing home using his life savings to keep him, dementia is setting in...it's that side of it that scares me, all that living and nothing left behind to carry on your little bit of you...

It's something that we all have to face up to....it's the inevitability of it all that scares depresses me more than the actual getting old part, but there's really no point in being scared of it...old people are always saying tht youth is wasted on the young and the more years that go by, the more I see what they're talking about....just get on with enjoying your life now, plan for the future, plan for making it a better future, rather than seeing the darker side to it (I know it's easy to say this and tbh I'm far from an optimist)

Rb

Wertz wrote: »

Okay that's a fair point but I'll guarantee you that almost anyone at any age will choose to hang on to that little bit of life they have left rather than end it all (unless suicide and/or terminal illness/pain comes into it)...comments like RB's, alluding to "Ah when I get to 70, someone just shoot me and put me out of my misery", are all fine and dandy to be making in your early 20's...but ask him again in 50 years...

Ah but I wasn't specifying an age, more just a condition i.e being stuck in a nursing home, not being able to go out in the car/on the bus/etc, getting fed the same shíte week after week or to summarise, having to depend on others so heavily that you couldn't live without doing so.

jos28

I'm 48 and to my surprise I actually like being this age, never would have thought it. Ok, it harder to control your weight, a lot more trips to the hairdresser to cover the grey but its not too bad. Advantages include much cheaper car insurance, more disposable income, mortgage nearly paid off....
I've finally got more time for me as my kids are adults. I recently started a degree course and I am loving it, last month I did a sky dive from 10,000 feet. You definitely get more comfortable in your old wrinkly skin I don't mind the thoughts of getting older but I do worry about losing my friends. Old age does not seem so scary if all your mates are still around. So trust me its not all dentures and incontinence knickers.

Peared

jos28 wrote: »

I'm 48 and to my surprise I actually like being this age, never would have thought it. Ok, it harder to control your weight, a lot more trips to the hairdresser to cover the grey but its not too bad. Advantages include much cheaper car insurance, more disposable income, mortgage nearly paid off....
I've finally got more time for me as my kids are adults. I recently started a degree course and I am loving it, last month I did a sky dive from 10,000 feet. You definitely get more comfortable in your old wrinkly skin I don't mind the thoughts of getting older but I do worry about losing my friends. Old age does not seem so scary if all your mates are still around. So trust me its not all dentures and incontinence knickers.

Fair balls.

You aint old yet though. Maybe in two years time

Wertz

Rb wrote: »

Ah but I wasn't specifying an age, more just a condition i.e being stuck in a nursing home, not being able to go out in the car/on the bus/etc, getting fed the same shíte week after week or to summarise, having to depend on others so heavily that you couldn't live without doing so.

No but 70 is ballpark and I'm not really referring to you but comments I've heard in general from people over the years.

I've worked in secure wings for those with dementia and other geriatric mental issues, people locked into care units with key coded doors, the communal TV in the sunroom, unable to feed themselves, perhaps needing adult nappies, not knowing their own name, their visiting family or their whereabouts....it's not pleasant....but life being what it is, will still strugggle to exist. Usually by the time it's gotten to that stage, the heads too far gone to realise what has become of the body, the body is still capable to going on so it will...

Black Swan

Scared of not getting old. Thus far life has been fast and furious!

Latchy

The good thing nowadays is that we have never being more informed about how to keep the aging process away that bit longer through good nutrition ,diet and exercise .The supplement and beauty product industry is worth billions around the world and new discoverys in medicine are helping in preventing or slowing down some advancing illness such as Alzheimer's Disease.

AckwelFoley

Its not old age that scares me, its being the oldest and the last one of all my family and friends being alive.

36Degrees

Yes!!
Abosolutely terrified of it...Didnt even want to turn 18, which may sound ridiculous but it was a big deal to me..

fonpokno

not scared of getting old as such, but i'm not looking forward to growing up and having to deal with, like, responsibilities and stuff... i may legally be an adult but i'm not gonna accept that for another 10 years at least!

Aisling(",)

Im terrified at the thoughts of being over 30...dont mean it in a naiave way its jsut its when i see people are usually settled down and have their familys and im scared of ending up alone.Its my biggest fear to end up alone,forgotten about and isolated.

No, I want a face that is like a London Underground map.

The Artist

im scared to turn out like this

Faith

I'm not scared of getting old, I'm scared of the deterioration of my health and body. I'm an incredibly independant person and I hate the thought of not being able to look after myself.

kmart6

Similar to Faith....I don't want to be dependant on other people or not being able to drive/move around freely!:(

Msfc

Im kinda scared about it but more so scared of seeing my parents getting old and their health deteoriating and having to look after them

Rb

Msfc wrote: »

Im kinda scared about it but more so scared of seeing my parents getting old and their health deteoriating and having to look after them

Yeah, am also not looking forward to those days alright. Hopefully it'll be far into the future though.

Creature

I wanna get a cane so I can whack people on the shins with it.

castie

pighead wrote: »

as A Wise Scholar Once Said "do Not Regret Growing Older, It Is A Privilege Denied To Many."

+1

flanum

Rb wrote: »

I'm only 22.

Teehee i was riding when you were only one year old!

OPENROAD

latchyco wrote: »

new discoverys in medicine are helping in preventing or slowing down some advancing illness such as Alzheimer's Disease.

Slowing down maybe,but sadly not preventing,though maybe in 20 years they might have got a cure though they would get there much quicker if they actually spent a decent amount of money on research.

jos28

jos28 wrote: »

I'm 48 and to my surprise I actually like being this age, never would have thought it. Ok, it harder to control your weight, a lot more trips to the hairdresser to cover the grey but its not too bad. Advantages include much cheaper car insurance, more disposable income, mortgage nearly paid off....
I've finally got more time for me as my kids are adults. I recently started a degree course and I am loving it, last month I did a sky dive from 10,000 feet. You definitely get more comfortable in your old wrinkly skin I don't mind the thoughts of getting older but I do worry about losing my friends. Old age does not seem so scary if all your mates are still around. So trust me its not all dentures and incontinence knickers.

Fair play to ye, I'm only a year behind you, but started the family much later so can't yet "live again" for a few more years.
I don't feel old, well not often.. just when after running after small children I'm reminded that I ain't a spring chicken anymore.

guy2454

getting old aint so bad,like others have said its watching others getting old thats hard.my mum is only 53 and i worry about the day i go to pick up the phone to call her and realise i cant!which is why i have decided cheesey as it sounds to make every day count!cut out the bulls**t in my life along with the "haters".life is too short!and youre never too old to do anything,youre either too lazy,too sick or too dying.

Xavi6

Absolutely terrified. 20 was the shizzle and it's slowly going downhill from there. I'm 23 and it gets more depressing every year. I don't want to get to a point where I physically can't go kick ball with my mates or play a game on a Sunday. It'll kill me to have to give up that.

Xavi6

Xavi6 wrote: »

Absolutely terrified. 20 was the shizzle and it's slowly going downhill from there. I'm 23 and it gets more depressing every year. I don't want to get to a point where I physically can't go kick ball with my mates or play a game on a Sunday. It'll kill me to have to give up that.

No worries, you'll find that your mates will runn out of steam at a similar age and you'll all sit in the bar like old farts complaining at how bad the lads are now, just as your elders did at you!!

Andrewf20

Im 28 and already im very aware of getting old, so I am trying to live life as much as possible now. Im spending lots of money on hols and experiences that I may not be fit enough for later on. The downside of that is that, due to budget limits, Im living in a small abode, driving a 12 year old car, but that doesnt really bother me tbh.

Also, the thought of settling down with a load of kids would strangle my freedom, so that definetly is a no no. Im also trying getting into fittness for self preservation!

I think a dose of religon + a good life when your old well help keep the fears of death away.

greatgoal

jos28 wrote: »

I'm 48 and to my surprise I actually like being this age, never would have thought it. Ok, it harder to control your weight, a lot more trips to the hairdresser to cover the grey but its not too bad. Advantages include much cheaper car insurance, more disposable income, mortgage nearly paid off....
I've finally got more time for me as my kids are adults. I recently started a degree course and I am loving it, last month I did a sky dive from 10,000 feet. You definitely get more comfortable in your old wrinkly skin I don't mind the thoughts of getting older but I do worry about losing my friends. Old age does not seem so scary if all your mates are still around. So trust me its not all dentures and incontinence knickers.

im 48 myself,bills are all payed,4 kids all reared ,moneywise fairly comfortable mrs. has a good job and most importantly,health is great.you find you have a lot more freedom to do different things,and you appreciate the simple things in life.ive got 2 grandchildren so i enjoy those all the more but at least i can hand them back when i get fed up,so at the moment,yes,growing older is to be enjoyed,for me anyway

Abi

Im not afraid of getting old, and I think if you dont embrace the fact that you will, you run the risk of being miserable for the rest of your life.

Every decade of your life has something to give you. Its really nice sharing milestones with someone. I would have been more afraid of spending those years alone than getting old.

Myself and the OH have vowed we will travel as much as possible together.


To be honest, I'd be more bothered about dying in a long, drawn-out ugly way.

I've no problem with the idea of being in a nursing home though. I'd much rather do that than burden someone at home, they've their own lives to live. Once they come see me once in a while, I wouldnt give a toss. Fuggit, I wouldnt mind doin the backgammon thing with ma new roomies!

No point being afraid of getting old, it will happen whether you like it or not.

Sherifu

No.

Dudess

Xavi6 wrote: »

Absolutely terrified. 20 was the shizzle and it's slowly going downhill from there. I'm 23 and it gets more depressing every year. I don't want to get to a point where I physically can't go kick ball with my mates or play a game on a Sunday.

Thinking like that at 23 is nuts. You'll still be playing football in ten years' time - my brother's 34 and he and his mates play at least twice a week. If you're getting depressed now, you'll be a wreck by 45 which is almost your lifetime away.

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Im 28 and already im very aware of getting old, so I am trying to live life as much as possible now. Im spending lots of money on hols and experiences that I may not be fit enough for later on. The downside of that is that, due to budget limits, Im living in a small abode, driving a 12 year old car, but that doesnt really bother me tbh.

Also, the thought of settling down with a load of kids would strangle my freedom, so that definetly is a no no. Im also trying getting into fittness for self preservation!

I think a dose of religon + a good life when your old well help keep the fears of death away.

I'm 30 - not aware of getting old, that's nonsense. "Old" is 70+. But I am aware that youth won't last forever. I think that's what a lot of people are focusing on here: not so much getting old, as in becoming elderly, but youth ending.
Well it's not like your youth just ends one day out of the blue, it's gradual and you barely feel it happening so there's nothing to be scared of. No point in being scared of something you can't do anything about anyway.

Dr_Teeth

I'm not scared of growing old, no. My father is active and healthy in his late 50s, my grandfather is active and healthy in his late 80s! So if I look after myself it'll be all good. What would worry me would be to grow old alone.. I hope that doesn't happen!

Dudess

Dr_Teeth wrote: »

What would worry me would be to grow old alone.. I hope that doesn't happen!

That's really my only fear. But meh, most of us meet someone.