On Getting Old

Getting old is like youth in reverse.
  When you are born you are virtually helpless--totally dependent on others for your survival. As you grow you take on more and more responsibility for yourself until you reach adulthood and emancipation. Then you are able to support yourself and take care of your needs. You then work at a job or care for others--children, elderly parents, etc.
  After you retire from either work outside the home or raising children, things start to reverse--albeit slowly. Little by little your body begins wearing out. Then you find there are some things you can no longer do but need help with.
  If you live long enough or are in poor health you eventually need the help of others in more and more areas--just like a child. Often very old people who are near death and bedridden can be seen to go into the fetal position, just as they were inside their mothers uterus so long ago.
  If you are fortunate you will not get to that point. We can do our best to stave off the negative aspects of aging, but we will all eventually loose some of our ability to care for ourselves.
  It is sad, and often depressing, but the happiest people learn to accept and make the best of the inevitable. Life is still worth living. Live it to the fullest. Take joy in the beauty and good things around you--the beauty of nature, the birth of a child, a wedding, the joy a toddler brings, music, a good movie, the love of family and friends. These things never grow old.