I found this weeks material to be very informative and
at the same time makes you a little worried of aging. Although, there are many positive things about
aging there definitely is physical changes that worry me. Changes such as hearing, seeing, and physical
mobility worry me a bit more. Being so
active throughout my life it is difficult to image not being able to move
around as much, and the possibility of mental changes and diseases such
alzheimer’s disease, parkinsons, depression. Not knowing my family history also leaves me in the dark about possible
hereditary diseases that may come with old age.
In
reality aging or growing older almost seems to be feared by a lot of us. We
don't want to grow old and have our lives change, or become the way our
grandparents or parents are. And I don't think the media's pushing of the
mentality of staying young forever, helps this mind set at all. I think the
important thing to keep in mind when it comes to the aging process is that it's
something that all of us (if we are lucky enough to reach old age) will all
have to experience. And that just because it was awful for some people doesn't
mean it has to be awful for us. I think maybe a perspective adjustment, and
some healthy research and facts on the topic could help disperse and ease some
of the fear that people feel going in to the aging process.
Erikson believed that negative past stages might promote
one feeling despair later in life and not feeling adequate with lives decisions
made. I hope someday to retire sit back
and remember how wonderful life was and how great it feels to be in a secure
place and not fear death.
Getting older scares me just because Alzheimer’s runs rampant in my family. I helped take care for my grandfather who had dementia for a couple of years when I was younger and it was very difficult. It did however make me realize that I wanted to pursue a career in nursing. Other than that I’m not too concerned about getting older, but I’ll admit that I’m not thrilled about the physical changes. I have a grandmother who is 91 and day to day tasks are getting extremely difficult for her. She is really struggles with the lack of independence she has right now. She seems to be content with her over all life though and always tells me live life to the fullest so that I don’t have any regrets when I’m her age. I think that she’s right. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think that if we worry daily about the future that we will miss out on the present. With that said the reality is we need to plan on what we want and how we want to go about the end stages of our lives. I think that the possibilities are endless for it being both good and bad so we might as well accept what life has in the cards for us and make the best of it!!
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