Someone posted a list of “things you are getting too old to deal with anymore,” and it got me thinking. What, if anything, did I find no longer necessary or a waste of my time? I came up with a few, but they might not be what you’d expect.
First, the article hits a few familiar notes. Older folks don’t seem to have time for hangovers; staying up all night; camping on the ground, or sitting on the floor. Waiting in lines also makes an appearance. Several other pedestrian bullet points made the list.
Keanau Revves is credited with no longer having time to argue with anyone. He’s just like, okay, whatever you say. He’s just not interested in spending time doing that. Too old for it or too wise, or both.
One person observed how odd it was that folks in their 30s and 40s thought they were getting old. No time for that either, perhaps, and is this a product of its subculture or the entire culture? It can be exhausting. Social media, Instagram, Tik Tok. Keeping up wears you out and runs you down? Maybe.
I’ll be 60 in a few weeks, and my body likes to remind me I’m not 30, but I don’t feel old. I have corrective lenses, hearing aids, and maintenance meds but mentally, none of that wears on me. Age is, after all, in your head which means I don’t have a lot of time for health care providers constantly asking me about my mental health or not believing me when I tell them how happy I am most of the time.
The writing doesn’t always suggest it, but it’s true. I’m blessed, very fortunate, even in my current state of employment unpredictability—the impending layoff. Experience has shown me that worrying doesn’t get me anywhere but thinking and acting do. And sometimes, things are just out of your control.
What else?
I don’t have time for jealousy, resentment, or hate. I get accused of hate often enough (by people who neither know me nor have read even one word I’ve written), but I don’t hate or resent anyone. It rots your soul, burns away your humanity, ruins relationships, and blinds you to possibilities. It makes you bitter. Angry. I’m not saying I don’t get mad or frustrated. That’s not the same thing; it’s situational. Resentment and anger can define how you live.
Next! I’m not interested in political or social climbing. I’m not here to impress you with the political characters I’ve met. You don’t see a lot of pictures of me with politicians. I’ve met many at every level, interviews, blah blah blah, but they are not objects to be glamorized or chits to be collected. People drawn to public office are too often those who should be kept from it. They are flawed, human. Not special. Not deserving of elevation beyond the office, they may very well come to abuse. For a time, they may serve as defenders of liberty, but if left unchecked, many abandon the isolation of defending individualism for the kindred comfort of ruling-class despotism.
I also don’t have time for Cults of Personality. Kennedy worship (Camelot) seemed wrong to me. When Obama became a national figure, there were posters, and people made cakes on his birthday. It was so creepy, and it still is. And while I like Trump the Disruptor, and I think he may be one of the few folks in a position at that level of politics to do some of what needs doing, the fandom and adoration can and has – at times – risen to creepy.
Sandy Cortez inspired a comic book. Biden was always a crook and a moron, but the Dems elevated him to messiah. Someone painted Greta Thunberg’s face on the side of a building. George Floyd was a career criminal and drug abuser.
We don’t need building-sized images of politicians or activists in public as if they were third-world dictators. I know where my assh*le is; I don’t need to see yours.
Another thing I find I don’t have time for is implied threats or violence. You might be getting bitter and resentful if you can’t make your point any other way. Yes, I love a colorful metaphor, and the occasional use of vulgarity can add some f****ng flavor to a turn of phrase, but implicit or explicit violence crosses a line. We delete it when we see it in the comments.
Don’t be offended; just choose different words. And remember that the left is violent because their ideology is based on sowing bitter resentment in the blind pursuit of power. Keep your powder dry, patriots. You’ll need that energy if things keep going sideways.
In more mundane matters, I’m not a fan of showers that don’t warm up fast enough, but I still have to wait for them. Slow service. Big government. They all find time for me, and I’ve learned to roll with it as it comes because I don’t want to become bitter and resentful or cranky and angry.
Patience is something worth my time. So is forgiveness. Don’t live angry. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be energized or activated. They are different things.
Life is short. Use the Force for good. Be a happy warrior.