The Phenomenon called "growing old"...its benefits and disadvantages
Posted on Thursday, 1 October 2015
The
Phenomenon called “Growing Old”
…its
benefits and disadvantages
By Apolinario Villalobos
Nobody should be afraid of growing old. It
is among the many normal human processes that are part of existence. Simply
put, growing old means, one continues to live, for if he does not…he is dead.
Among Filipinos, there is a joke about unhealthy foods that make one not grow
old which means that they will make him die at a young age.
The people of the Bible, especially, the
Patriarchs were known to have lived beyond a century. Nowadays, if ever there
are people who are still alive at the age of 100 or more, they are esteemed,
treated with respect and showered with admiration. In some countries the
centenarians are honored like heroes, subjected to interviews to extract
information about the food that they eat and their daily habits. Those who
belong to prominent families admit that they take “maintenance drugs” and their
foods are strictly chosen. But for the poverty-stricken, they consider growing
old as just some kind of luck, as they have no money for regular medical
check-ups, supplemental drugs and healthy food…add to that their exposure to
the elements, as some of them live on sidewalks and makeshift huts.
In the Philippines as in some other
countries, the most cherished benefits of the senior citizens are the
“discount” on basic necessities and privilege of not falling in the regular
long line of customers in malls, supermarkets and banks. The government extends
the much-deserved benefits in recognition of their contribution in propping up
the stability of their nation.
Unfortunately, along with growing old is
the degeneration of the ageing body parts. The rich try to remedy this
unavoidable occurrence with the expensive stem cell therapy, aside from facial
makeover that involves the traditional plastic surgery. Others take the risk of
undergoing implant or transplant procedure. We then, see photos of celebrities
with almost unreal faces – smooth like a plastic sheet without any tell-tale
trace of a single wrinkle at an age when their faces are supposed to be
furrowed with the dreaded lines.
There are some people who cannot accept the
fact that everything on earth has its end. Boulders crumble, rivers and lakes
go dry, forest gets denuded….how much more for the living? Aside from the reduction
of population caused by natural death, there’s the so-called survival of the
fittest among the lesser creatures with the strong consuming the weak, but in
the case of man, just simply the killing of the weak by the strong during wars.
Then, there’s the wrath of nature that devastates thousands of lives with a
single stroke, and, of course, the plague of diseases.
We cannot stop ageing. Instead of dreading
it, the process should prepare us for the day when we finally call it quits and
bid goodbye to the world. It should instead, prepare us by making amends with
our enemies, paying our debts, and of course, thank whoever gave us life. I
found out that planning comes naturally for those who are positive about this
ageing process, as they no longer regard with importance their amassed worldly
gains, but instead find ways to dispose them, one of which is by distributing
them among charitable institutions. Common sense dictates that “travel” is more
pleasant if there is no “heavy baggage” to burden us. This realization comes
only if we accept growing old as part of our life that cannot be shaken off by
scientific interventions.
One of my friends told me that she gave
instructions to her heirs that when she die, she wants a smiling face, not a
serious one, for her friends to view inside the box of final solace, so they
better find an embalmer who can do the best job. That is what I call the best
preparation for the “day” which growing old cannot deter.
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