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by dhsysusbsjsi 2113 days ago
The nicest bit for me was where he talked about growing old being a privilege and not to lament every grey hair and wrinkle. Puts it in perspective.
1 comments

As I often say, "Growing old sucks, but it is better than the alternative."*

*I can't take credit. I got it from someone else, but I don't remember who.

Well admittedly when you get older you tend to forget these things. :)
It varies. Got badly injured a few years ago. Had a period of almost a year of horrific agony.

At a certain point living was just a horrible punishment.

My grandfather says this, and meets his age with a reverent smile. It's so unburdening to embrace age. The fear of it is encompassing and I feel it on the edge of my mind at times.

But it is _so_ incredibly liberating to meet it with a warm smile and acceptance.

Age is not a punishment, it's a gift, a privilege, to carry the memories we have and to wear our lives on our face like we're able to.

"Everybody wants to grow old, but nobody wants to be old"
Thing is, we don't quite know about the alternative. The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns and all that.
Act 3 Scene 1 of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare: https://www.sparknotes.c
I’ve heard it ascribed to Oscar Wilde, although according to Whistler he probably stole it from someone himself.
It's clearly been around a lot longer than I realized!
It depends. We do have voluntary euthanasia after all, so perhaps the alternative can be better in some cases.
"who" doesn't matter. We are just meat bags passing on good ideas and thoughts.
I have to stash this gem somewhere safe. Thanks.