"Getting Old Is Awful" - Page 8

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@smoochy wrote:
@Sooner you may not know this but I've been on the Q forums for probably twenty plus years. I feel like I "know"you. I was smoochy for a long time.
You have often been a voice of reason and sensibility here. Which I've always appreciated.

@smoochy Thank you so much for reminding me who you are! Yes, we do go back a long long way! I am so happy you are around!

You made my day, because I try to use this board to be a more reasonable human. Maybe sometimes it works.

I learn a lot here, and the variety of people helps me understand the world and think about what I "know"--or don't! I have friends here who don't live where I live, don't think like I think, and have different insights and experiences. I worked in a very diverse community and I miss that.

HLP · ‎04-02-2015

@Shopchickie3 wrote:
@BeccaLou wrote:
Anyone out there as lonely as I am?. Very Lost.And the Pandemic is making a lot worse.
Its good that you reached out even to these forums--people really do listen and care.
So know that everyone is out of sorts with this covid stuff- just stay positive and healthy. Do things in the house, learn something new- we are all reaching out also.

Why and how is this Covid bothering everybody? It isn't bothering me, just put on my mask when i go out and thats it. I go very little, but I have never once been held back because of it.

PamfromCT · ‎05-22-2014

I recognize we are all different people here - different backgrounds, family and friend situations, ages, health, financial circumstances, where we live in the country, dwellings, interests, being introverted or extroverted, and on and on.

One aspect I am observing is that some who are nonchalant about COVID risks are still leading satisfying lives. I (and my entire family and friends) take it seriously. COVID is raging where I live, and we have seen it.

We are well up in years. We have been deprived of the joys of a normal life with our children and our grandchildren, the joys of our old age. We are extroverted people living in what is an introverted lifestyle. No more volunteer work - places here do not want to risk it, nor do we. No more going out to eat, going to a different city for a day, no more trips we had saved and planned for, etc, etc.

We are grateful for what we do have. Which is so much. I try to spend time every day reading some spiritual material, which helps. We are in contact with family and friends.

We have a home to run and find joy in our adopted kitty and watching so many birds coming to our bird feeders.

The majority of us are experiencing losses. It is shocking. We don’t know when this will end. People are entitled to feel sad and depressed. One can try to give helpful comments, but not judge.

golding76 · ‎05-19-2012

This response to the challenge of continuing on despite despair and suffering is from the "Dear Amy" column and offers another perspective:

Dear Amy: I think this is a tall order, but I am asking for your thoughts about how to process the experience of the past couple of years.

I am overwhelmed by all of the sadness, division, dislocation, and loss, and I wonder whether the pandemic has scarred me permanently.

I’m curious about your perspective on this.

— Distressed

Distressed: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try to tackle your very big question.

In response, I’m offering up two of my favorite modern philosophers: Viktor Frankl and Dolly Parton.

Frankl, a psychiatrist, was imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp, where all of his captive family members (and more than 1 million others) were murdered. He survived.

His important book about this experience, "Man's Search for Meaning" (current edition: 2006, Beacon Press), offers indelible lessons about resilience.

Boiled down, Frankl’s belief is that human beings can find meaning and the motivation to persevere through suffering by unlocking their sense of purpose, and by developing a rich inner life.

On to Dolly, who said, “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

At some point, we in North America seem to have absorbed the belief that life was supposed to be easy for us.

It is not.

Surely the pandemic experience has connected us to other humans throughout time, who have experienced war, hunger, trauma and dislocation.

This is tough, but it is not the worst.

Personally, you can see your scars as evidence that you cannot heal, or you can emerge wounded, but determined to grow.

I say — lead with your scars; they are proof of your humanity.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

Take what is, deal with it as best you can, count blessings, and go wash the dishes.

hckynutjohn · ‎06-15-2015

@HLP wrote:

"but I have never once been held back because of it".

@HLP

Nor have I!

hckynut 🏒

hckynut(john)

Hazelfaye · ‎04-17-2010

I have been reading this forum for quite a while now, but have never written in to it but feel like I know some of you just from your writing.

I am 79 years old and have had a rough year, broke 2 ribs and vetabre in my back in a fall this year, 2 weeks after that I ended up in the hospital with heart failure. So I have a lot of restrictions now besides trying to avoid getting covid.....I can hardly walk and so doing things are much harder than they had been. My son refuses to get the covid vaccine to him it is political, and I see it as a health issue, but I can't have him visit without the vaccine or a mask, so just talk to him on the phone.

l have a husband who is doing okay after a couple of strokes, but not as sharp as he used to be, but we have each other for company....I watch all the tv shows and movies I was too busy to watch in my younger busy years, I enjoy reading a good book, I still enjoy the computer and wish I had a new pet (my dog passed away a few years ago) but wouldn't be able to walk a new dog. I do miss my old friends that have passed away, but I have nice neighbors to talk to.....I am trying to make to best of these not so golden, golden years.

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

I'm doing fine. Getting old sure beats the alternatve!

I think if I had been living somewhere out in the suburbs - isolated - it may have been an issue.

Around here (NYC) life has pretty much returned to a "new normal."

We go to church, got to meetings, go out to eat with friends, go shopping.

hckynutjohn · ‎06-15-2015

@Hazelfaye wrote:
I have been reading this forum for quite a while now, but have never written in to it but feel like I know some of you just from your writing.
I am 79 years old and have had a rough year, broke 2 ribs and vetabre in my back in a fall this year, 2 weeks after that I ended up in the hospital with heart failure. So I have a lot of restrictions now besides trying to avoid getting covid.....I can hardly walk and so doing things are much harder than they had been. My son refuses to get the covid vaccine to him it is political, and I see it as a health issue, but I can't have him visit without the vaccine or a mask, so just talk to him on the phone.

l have a husband who is doing okay after a couple of strokes, but not as sharp as he used to be, but we have each other for company....I watch all the tv shows and movies I was too busy to watch in my younger busy years, I enjoy reading a good book, I still enjoy the computer and wish I had a new pet (my dog passed away a few years ago) but wouldn't be able to walk a new dog. I do miss my old friends that have passed away, but I have nice neighbors to talk to.....I am trying to make to best of these not so golden, golden years.

@Hazelfaye

Sorry to hear these things you have been going through. Will not talk about the virus.

Everything you listed in your post, I have been through, and a few even worse. I am still dealing with a couple of them. Mine however was over a period of 14 consecutive years.

In the hospital/out of the hospital, over and over. Not for days, but for weeks. Broke 4 of my ribs a few months ago, that punctured my left lung. Even complications added to the collapsed lung called Pleural Fluid, 1.4 liters had to be drained.

Also had Congestive Heart Failure with my 2nd heart attack. If you've been reading here over a few years, you might have already read all of this.

I am 82 so have a few years on you. Hopefully things will change for the better for you. My biggest friend in my umpteen recoveries? Optimism. Without it my long road would have ended differently, and several years ago.

My best to you,

hckynut 🏒

hckynut(john)

Teddixat · ‎10-04-2010

@BeccaLou I am sorry for your loneliness. It's not easy. If you are vaccinated and boosted and wear a mask you can still go out. Maybe go out for a walk. If you have ear buds you can take them along with you and listen to music. A nice brisk walk can do wonders. It brings oxygen into your lung and the endorphins do a lot to help the mood.