Reaching old age and inhabiting it is the real world that contains us and to which time has taken us. It is the present that we surely fantasized in the past, and that today is tangent. We must learn to live it, just as we did with all the previous stages; but with an additional advantage: the accumulated experience that was not told to us, but that was lived by each one of us in our particular context of time and space.

The Elderly Being

Philosophy refers to old age as a way of thinking and feeling and grants it the right to its individuality; and although sometimes it cannot operate independently, it should not give up the right to express its opinions and make decisions.

We must know that in old age there is also a potential to be developed, but without failing to recognize the importance of everyday life: healthy habits such as good nutrition, basic care of the bodily functions, body mobility, sufficient rest, leisure.

If the base of these nutrients remains firm and stable, the elderly person has the right (and perhaps the obligation) to venture into new, unexpected life situations, and welcome those surprises that rejoice the spirit and the body, inside and out!

How gratifying is the arrival of new friends or kind acquaintances with whom to share chats, games, walks, and when not, the appearance of someone who manages to break through that shield that old age usually puts on its skin, and then we start to feel from a new alphabet of love and emotions.

This shield contains a whole system of beliefs and cultural customs that we all incorporate throughout our lives; and old age is a bit of the result of all that. With how much more we reach this stage of life… and also with how much less!

Two balances that deserve respect and credibility. Unfortunately, there are a lot of young people who have allowed old age to inhabit them (which is not the same as inhabiting old age) long before their biological chronology. They live in a present anesthetized of directions and horizons, and it is essential to ask for help.

Old Age and Social Issues

Life is lived in such a hurry and with an almost humiliating prominence of technology that, unintentionally, but for that reason no less painful, the elderly are sent “to the penitence corner”: “don’t ask so many questions”, “how come you don’t understand?”, “not now, I’m busy!”

And surely they are right because sometimes the elderly become very demanding and tend to become, with all due respect and sincerity, “a burden” to be shared.

Those who take care of their needs must also take care of their own, hence the need to share time, energy, demands, possibilities, without detracting from the bonds. It must be understood that it is not love that is at stake, but rather being operative and efficient in basic cares.

What has to do with patience, a number of shared moments, a more loving and understanding accompaniment is an added value in direct relation to the willingness or ability to do. And this should also be respected; what happens to us should not be extrapolated to what happens to others.

We talk about the trauma of birth, the crises of adolescence, the difficulties of menopause and male menopause, and of course, the crises of old age; but pay attention to this: if you have gone through everything else, reaching old age is a vital success!

You will find more content like this in Versuasions in English.

Translator Jimena Freytes