Yup, getting old can suck. The worst thing about it is that you are forced to come face to face with your frailties. You are forced to admit that you’re on a downhill slide.
People toss around the phrase “slippery slope”. Well, the ultimate, the real, the inescapable slippery slope is the slope that drops away down the wrong side of 50 or 60 years old.
You can’t claw your way back up that slope. You can dig your claws in, slow the descent, maybe last another 20 or 30 years, but there’s no going back. You pass the point of no return.
When you’re 30 or 40 years old, you can hike up your britches, tighten your shoelaces and trim the sails. If you catch yourself in time, you can get back in shape and push back old age for a few years.
If you’ve been trained and disciplined properly, if you’ve exercised self discipline, you can hold off your decline for an extra decade or more.
Look around your town. Look for the old guys that still get up before dawn. Those still walking or running 5 miles every morning.Those who shit, shower and shave before breakfast. They’re likely veterans. They’re self-disciplined. They’ll last longer.
But eventually age says, “I’m the master. I’m your future. You cannot escape me.” And you have to admit that it’s true. Your body starts to disobey your brain. Your brain tells your fingers to perform some delicate task…and your fingers say, “Nope. Not gonna do it.” And the screwdriver shakes, and it becomes a two-handed task.
Recently, for a few weeks, I’ve been dealing with shingles. I’m in the scabby stage. The itchy stage. The “I wanna be done with this shit” stage.
Shingles are weird. It’s like a mine planted when you were a kid. Planted when you had Chicken Pox. Chicken Pox said TO YOU “No need to worry. I’ll just be here for a few days. I’ll make you feel a little sick. I’ll make you a bit itchy. Then I’ll go. Nothing to worry about.” And Chicken Pox said TO ITSELF, “You idiot. I’ll never be gone. I’ll be hiding inside of you. And I’ll return with a vengeance when you least expect it!”
The virus hides in your nerves. When it detonates, it follows a nerve path. Mine went from the top of my scalp, down the rear right side of my head, behind my right ear, and down the right side of my neck. You can tell for sure that it is in your nerves. My skin feels sensitive in the area around the bumps, like second degree burn sensitive. 2 aspirin and 2 advil help. Wearing a knit watch cap at night also helps.
Typical shingles, scabbed over
I was amazed to learn that 60%-70% of people who had Chicken Pox as a child end up getting shingles later in life. It’s part of getting old. Immediately see a physician if shingles appear on your face, near your eyes. Blindness can result.
So you accept the fact that it’s now downhill. And you’re back to deciding…will it be a headlong out-of-control head-over-heals crash down the mountain? Or will discipline and self-control kick back in, and it will be nice gentle glide home?
For me, the world is too interesting right now for me to quit. World events are a never ending series of surprises. It’s like being at a high school football game, and the home team is behind, and it looks hopeless. People are leaving during the last quarter. They’ve given up. But I can never leave. I have to see what happens. I’d hate myself the next morning if the local sports page read, “Amazing comeback from 20 point deficit!” and I’d left early.
So shingles schmingles. I’m digging in the claws and holding on.
There’s still bound to be a hell of a ride ahead. And I’m waiting for that amazing comeback.
