Can Anyone Else Relate To This?

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A cowboy's guide to aging

By Patrick Dorinson

Published April 08, 2012

| FoxNews.com

Every day for the next 19 years 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 and be eligible for Social Security and Medicare. That is if there is any money left.

This year along with other boomers who were born in 1952, I will turn 60. I am not quite ready to retire and the way the economy is going it looks like a lot of us including myself will be working longer than we anticipated.

And with my youth and middle age in the rearview mirror, the end gets closer every day unless they figure a way to replace all the worn out parts of my body or find a fountain of youth. Even if I make it to the ripe old age of 100, I am way past the halfway mark of my life.

This point was painfully driven home the other day when I received a solicitation for “burial and final expense insurance” from the AARP. I guess before you die you need to write that last check for that “final expense”. The good news is it will be the last bill you will ever have to pay. The bad news is that it will be the last bill you will ever have to pay.

When I get up in the morning my body makes sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies when the milk gets poured on it—snap, crackle, pop. But I am reasonably healthy, I exercise as much as I can to stay one step ahead of the Grim Reaper and can still be in the saddle all day if need be.

And turning 60 doesn’t scare me one lick. According to some things I have read lately, 60 is the “new” 40.
But no amount of Botox or plastic surgery, regular exercise or a more healthy diet can turn back the clock and actually make you 40 again. That fountain of youth doesn’t exist.

So to help my fellow baby boomers prepare for the next phase of life, here is a little cowboy wisdom as we all get closer to that final sunset.

1. Be careful about reading health books. You could die of a misprint.

This quote from Mark Twain is right on point. Every day we are bombarded with articles, books, studies and TV doctors telling us all the things that will kill us. They happen to be all the good things like a cheeseburger. So pay absolutely no attention to all these scare tactics. Just ignore all that noise and enjoy life. Unless you want to spend your golden years worrying about what may or may not kill you.

2. Make time for your loved ones. We are not promised tomorrow so make the most of today.

At the end of the day family is all you really have. Stay in close contact with siblings and other family members. And if you have been at odds with a family member, make peace with them now. It doesn’t matter how it all started or who was to blame. Carrying grudges is bad for your health and it makes family gatherings like Thanksgiving unpleasant.

3. Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.

There is no need to elevate your blood pressure any more than you have to over things you can’t do anything about. If it ain’t bothering you let it go.

4. Live a good honorable life. Then when you get older and think back you’ll enjoy it a second time.

Cherish your memories. Look back and see how far you have come and give yourself a pat on the back. It may not have always gone the way you wanted but if you lived an honorable life and always strived to do the right thing you should feel justly proud.

5. Finally, we all need to accept the fact our time on earth is limited.

In 1962 when I was 10 years old, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing. My dad had started me on newspapers as soon as I could read so I knew what was going on. There was talk of a nuclear war and neighbors were building bomb shelters. People were scared. Was this the end?

I started thinking about death and it really worried me. So I took my worried look into the kitchen where my mother was cooking dinner and asked her about dying.

She sat me down and said, “Patrick, everybody is going to die someday. The quicker you understand that, the sooner you can get on with the business of living.”

It is something I have never forgotten.

So as we boomers embark on the next chapter of our lives, rather than worrying about getting old, we should just get on with the business of living.

And I’ll bet if we do, we will all live a lot longer.

Patrick Dorinson blogs at "The Cowboy Libertarian" and he can be heard on a radio program with the same name on Sundays, from 3-5 p.m. PT on KFBK radio.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/04/0...n#ixzz1rYxKOSmG
 
Yeah... I'm coming up on 54 in a few short months, and if I live to be 100, I'll probably have to work until I'm at least 102, unless I get lucky and hit on one of those non-existent lottery tickets I don't have.

I don't run hard as I used to, but a lot of that is because I don't have anything to prove anymore. I'm not being paid for a strong back and a weak mind anymore, I was hired for 4+ decades of experience at my job, my decision making skills, my calm in the midst of castrophes, and for the fortitude to work 50 days straight or 100+ hours a week, when the job demands it, which is usually 2 - 3 times a year in one respect or the other. And... for the ability to persuade my crew to give 110% plus when necessary.

Yeah, I run harder than I should at times, but it drives the help and the boss insane wondering how the old man does it. And, it helps keep me new-40ish!

As for #1 up there, I always wondered how all those 100 year old farts got to be that way without someone harping on them for years that all that bacon grease and lard they were eating was going to clog their arteries and do them in! I guess if a cheesburger and fries will kill you, that'll probably be my nemisis.
 
At 70, I feel really sorry for the upcoming "Baby Boomers" that have been indoctrinated with all the current and past 'health scares' that have been promoted over the recent years...Many 'middle age' would be joggers and marathon runners seem to keel over on a regular basis..Both men and women seem to spend an inordinate amount of time and resources in the attempt to recapture their youth..

My grand parents (ages 92 & 82 at their death) ate all the wrong things according to today's standards and I was raised on the same diets...While I no longer eat two and three helpings at a meal sitting, not due to fear of self injury, I just don't do enough physical work any longer to burn it all off..

My wife's ex-husband got on a self improvement health kick and started riding a bicycle with a club that pushed for long distances..At 60, he had undergone a physical and was pronounced healthy, the next month he died, while riding his bike, of a massive heart attack...

Even with my health issues that have popped up in the last ten years, I've learned to find doctors that are not just healers or pill pushers, but also investigators and willing to push to find out the source of any physical signs of discomfort when I used to accept that they would go away on their own...so far, it's saved my life three times and given me a chance to enjoy my children and grand children for a few more years...

When I was 21 and just two days out of the police academy, I found myself in a situation with bullets flying around..After about two weeks, I decided then that I probably wouldn't see 30, but did the best job that I could.. By 30, I figured that I probably wouldn't see 40..now, I feel that I may not see 75, but I don't worry about it...I put my trust in God a long time ago and when he feels that I've done what he planned, it's okay...until then, I'll plan on tomorrow..the same as I did yesterday...
 
I also have come to believe that a faithful person will die at their appointed time and not before.I cant explain the things I have seen and happen to me any other way.I believe if it is not your time,you cant go,if it is,you cant stay.That may not sound right to some but I believe it.I have seen young people killed in wrecks that you could not hardly find a mark on them and I have seen others busted so bad,but they lived.I believe my jobs here are not done or I would be gone.My next job may be only a simple hardly noticed thing done for someone else.It may be them that is going to do something great,my only job may be to be there for a few seconds at the right time to do a small thing.I like many of you probably have things happen that should have killed me but I did not get a mark.I cant believe it is just luck,at one time I did,but there have been to many things happen to believe that now.When you ponder on this it is a comfort.
 
Good write up OT. I'm 70 as well and every day is a blessing and I don't have time to worry about dying-it will happen when it does. Consequently I am in far better physical and mental condition tham many of my counter parts.

Don't take ANY pills for any reason either.

Turkey season starts Saturday; we will be there!!!
 
You guys are P ing me off.No way can I make it to 70 and still be able to shoot and do stuff like you do.You old coggers just P me off.
 
Originally Posted By: dog1whckr
Don't take ANY pills for any reason either.



i knew an old rancher that just died about 3 years ago. he was in his early 90's. he told me he has never taken a prescription med in his life.
a good buddy, also a rancher just turned 76. he has never so much as taken an asprin.
 
Originally Posted By: tnshootistYou guys are P ing me off.No way can I make it to 70 and still be able to shoot and do stuff like you do.You old coggers just P me off.


It's closer than you think... You go to sleep one night when you're about 35, and you wake up 55. Nod off in the recliner next day and when you wake up, you're the old coot around the corner yellin at the kids about stayin off his lawn!
lol.gif


Only way you know the difference is the hot little 30 something babes at the bar don't want nothing to do with you anymore!!
 
Know what you mean Rocky.I traveled a lot for my work at one time.I was in my prime then and climbed light poles everyday so I was in pretty good shape.I used to come in take a shower and go to the bar.I would just walk in,pick a good table and sit for a few and see what happened.
Now...Well I don't want to talk about it.
 
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