Is there anything good about getting old?

[Purdey]

Getting old is an opportunity to find new interests and hobbies. You don't have to be bored of life.

[Yagoda]

I can say what I want and if you dont like it, a life sentence means nothing.

[0james0]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Then, in the hindsight, do you think you lived "wrong"?

Obviously, I also made some mistakes in my life, but in general I think I choose a good path. 

 

Most people will never admit that they lived wrong. Making mistakes in life is how we learn, do better next go around since we know what to look out for.

[sidjameson]

Life becomes cheaper than imagined which is a positive if you had less than you thought, but maybe a negative if you got more.

[simon43]

[quote]

No work anymore, no annoying children anymore, time for hobbies.

[/quote]

 

I'm closer to 70 than 60, just started a new job, teaching science to 'annoying children' 🙂  I really can't imagine retiring.

 

[Happy happy]

The good thing about getting old is previously I could have sex here in Thailand 5 times a day. Now i am not young I have reduced it by 20%

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, jvs said:

You should try to enjoy being old,dying young is just that.

The end.

I still enjoy my life.

But I don't see that it will get better in the years to come.

[Nick Carter icp]

6 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I still enjoy my life.

But I don't see that it will get better in the years to come.

 

   Do you expect to spend the rest of your life walking around and looking at females ?

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Do you expect to spend the rest of your life walking around and looking at females ?

Why not!

Costs nothing, and the exercise is good for you.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Yagoda said:

I can say what I want and if you dont like it, a life sentence means nothing.

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them ...... Well, I have others.

[dinsdale]

4 hours ago, Hummin said:

 

Being old is all about appreciating and celebrating you still alive and kicking. Being young was more about living in the moment, now, as much as possible, as fast as possible, without consequences

 

 

Yep! Living in the moment isn't all that bad. Bit like the Thai/Asian mentality. "as much as possible, as fast as possible, without consequences" is just narcissistic. One of the reasons society is so fkd up IMO. For me a good day starts with me waking up. Success. Still living. People say they will miss things when they're dead and I understand the sentiment but when you're dead, you're dead. Missing something requires consciousness. For me the body can waste away, as it does from birth, but losing the mind is something I don't won't. Saw my mum go through that. Senile dementia. Horrible. Alzheimer's even worse.  

[BangkokReady]

I think the important thing is to have something to live for, something that makes you happy and feel good.

 

It seems like a lot of people who enjoy their youth, drinking and sleeping around, have nothing left when they get old.  It's as though everything that brought them joy in life, that made them feel that they were them, related to their body and kind of ran out when they got too old.

[Confuscious]

The best lesson in life I had about getting old was in 1995.

On December 2, a day before my birthday, I got a severe stroke.
I woke up in the IC in the hospital, naked and surrounded by all kind of machines beeping.
Later I was told that I had passed away, but somehow came back to life.

A few weeks after the IC unit, I was transferred to a room.
Still paralyzed, I needed help for everything.
Putting butter in my bread, go to the toilet, wash myself, etc.

A few days after, a man came in my room with his whole family.
He had been working all his life as a "Warehouseman" for a big company and was just 4 months retired.
We chatted about our lifes and how he was planning his retired life with trips everywhere.
He would endly be able to make a cruise with his wife, something they were always dreaming off.

A few days after he was admitted to the hospital, a doctor came in the room and told him that they were going to make some tests the next day.
The next day, 2 nurses put him on a wheelchair and drove him away.
About 3 hours later he came back in the room with a big smile.
Everything seemed to be ok with his body.

Sadly enough, that evening, the doctor came into the room and told him the bad news.
The test had discovered a few "white spots" on the X-Ray pictures and were defined as "CANCER CELLS".
The doctor told him that it was best for him to have the infected part of lung removed before it would spread out.

He accepted to remove a part of his lung and the next few days I could hear the sound of a pump attached to his bed and sucking the fluid out of his long.

A week went over and he was still making plans for the future with his wife.
But his doctor came back in the room to tell him that the CANCER had already spread on his lung and the best option would be to remove his lung.

He accepted to remove his lung and the next few days I could hear the sound of a pump attached to his bed and sucking the fluid out of his long.

A week went over, and he started to accept the fact that his future was not lasting long and he could forget his cruise.

A few days later, I was released from the hospital and continued to recover at home.

End of January, I received a phone call from his wife that he was given a few hours of life.
I rushed to the hospital and he was lying unconscious in his bed, most of internal organs removed and all kind of macjines was keeping him alive.

I hold his hand, and a few minutes later I hear the endless beep of the heart rate screen.

Moral of the story:
We were told that we had to work our life to build up a family and retire, but this was completly wrong.
Live your life to the fullest whilst you  can and are still able to annd don't worry about a future that my never come.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Or is it just living another year, with a little more medial issues, with a little less power?

That one.

Being old sucks way more than I ever imagined.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

It seems like a lot of people who enjoy their youth, drinking and sleeping around, have nothing left when they get old.  It's as though everything that brought them joy in life, that made them feel that they were them, related to their body and kind of ran out when they got too old.

That one.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Do you expect to spend the rest of your life walking around and looking at females ?

Sounds like a great idea, but if I did that in wokeland I'd be arrested for making womankind feel uncomfortable.

I miss Thailand where they didn't go ape**** if a guy looked at them.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, Purdey said:

Getting old is an opportunity to find new interests and hobbies. You don't have to be bored of life.

I guess you ain't old yet then. I have more than enough to keep me occupied, but the body won't allow me to do the things I'd really like to do.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe the people who worked in some boring job all their life and who had to take care of children are happy when they finally retire. No work anymore, no annoying children anymore, time for hobbies.

Personally, I like my job. I never wanted children and never had children.

Agree 100%. I never had kids, never wanted kids, have no regrets at all about that.

I look at other people's kids and thank the deity I never had any if that is what they are like now- spoiled brats.

 

[Homburg]

"Is there anything good about getting old?"

 

One thing for sure - it beats the alternative.

[Tailwagsdog]

 ..somebody half intelligent & productive through their life enjoys watching their children grow as adults, give good advice, love the grandkids, share Christmas & time together, enjoy travel, enjoy the garden ,  ... quality time is the most precious commodity ...

 .....have you wasted your life ???

[ChumpChange]

You take matters into your own hands more often because you know what you like. 

[Scouse123]

"Do not regret getting old, it's a privilege denied to many "

 

Credited to Mark Twain.

 

A sobering thing to do, is to go visit the War cemetery in Kanchanaburi, I have been a few times and taken friends.

 

Nearly 7,000 poor souls there, and when you look at the young ages of them, it's very upsetting.

 

You come away being very grateful to be still here.

 

I am 62 and had a few health issues, and survived cancer through radical surgery in 2005.

 

I feel, what we have in the here and now, is better than the other option.

 

 

 

 

 

[harryviking]

Getting old it means you are soon to get out of the boring mess! Getting to old means waking up and cannot wait until evening so you can sleep again! 😆

[Thingamabob]

Now 83. In many ways I am happier than I have ever been. Of course, at my age, I am acutely aware that my eventual demise looms closer. However I am lucky to have married a lovely Thai wife 4O years ago, and we are still happy together. My advice would be to try not to dwell on mortality, and make the best possible of whatever each day brings.

[daveAustin]

16 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

This old tale:

 

You have three aspects of life and can only enjoy two at once - time, money, energy.

 

When you're young, you have time and energy but no money.

In the middle, you have money and energy but no time.

Towards the end you have time, money, but no energy to really enjoy it.

 

I still make very infrequent trips to the go-go's and enjoy stroking a beautiful young thing or two, but the get-up-and-go has gone-up-and-got. Still no regrets.

Always seemed to have all three. 
 

Op, I get the appeal of not having kids but don’t reckon you’ve really ‘lived’ until you’ve experienced the trials & tribulations and sacrifice. Big issues to the childless often seem like small issues to parents. 
 

On getting older, aside from seeing others go, big plus is one is closer to the ‘end’. Just don’t dwell on it because it’s inevitable… or go holding angst and regret, since (if it is a thing) there’s more of a chance of getting flashed back to do this sht all over again. 🙂

[Hummin]

9 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Yep! Living in the moment isn't all that bad. Bit like the Thai/Asian mentality. "as much as possible, as fast as possible, without consequences" is just narcissistic. One of the reasons society is so fkd up IMO. For me a good day starts with me waking up. Success. Still living. People say they will miss things when they're dead and I understand the sentiment but when you're dead, you're dead. Missing something requires consciousness. For me the body can waste away, as it does from birth, but losing the mind is something I don't won't. Saw my mum go through that. Senile dementia. Horrible. Alzheimer's even worse.  

Cant say my living in the moment can relate to thai cultural self destruction, or western abuse of toxins. I was more on the physically adventure doing extreme sports, chasing good money in oil business, and also made a few companies, because I had some extra energy, which kicked  back later in life with stressyndrom and chronic disease. Being broke a few times, was not difficult back in the 80 and 90ies when still young, and it was possible to turn it back around, and still secure your retirement.  I feel it would had been worse now being broke and set back to zero. 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

Is there anything good about getting old?

No 

[HappyExpat57]

19 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Always seemed to have all three. 
 

Op, I get the appeal of not having kids but don’t reckon you’ve really ‘lived’ until you’ve experienced the trials & tribulations and sacrifice. Big issues to the childless often seem like small issues to parents. 
 

On getting older, aside from seeing others go, big plus is one is closer to the ‘end’. Just don’t dwell on it because it’s inevitable… or go holding angst and regret, since (if it is a thing) there’s more of a chance of getting flashed back to do this sht all over again. 🙂

You're the exception, hardly EVER do people have all three.

[HappyExpat57]

Just now, Skeptic7 said:

Is there anything good about getting old?

No 

 

You didn't check out for the long dirt nap.

[Skeptic7]

Just now, HappyExpat57 said:

 

You didn't check out for the long dirt nap.

Not yet