Turning 100

30th April, 2010 - Posted by L. John Mason -

What is like to live for 100 years? AND, Would YOU want to live 100 years?

The reason I ask is because I will be attending the 100^th Birthday party for the mother of a friend of mine this weekend.

My mother lived to 94. She was an active person and a “career woman” from an era where that was not commonplace. The last 3-4 years of her life were frustrating for her because she had some physical limitations that prevented her from living her life as she would like to live.

As I age, I struggle with the physical aspects of “getting older.” I do not hear as well. My vision is not as strong as it was. I am not as quick or as strong as I was just 20 years ago… go figure… Mentally, my memory is not what it used to be especially with short term memory and learning new material. I search for words differently than I did when I was younger. My attitude toward the future as changed and my attitude of acceptance of circumstances is different than the impatient, close to the surface frustration, that I felt when I was younger (except for being subjected to “stupidity” where I have a very low tolerance.)

5 years ago I got to cross off one of those items on my “bucket list.” I experienced skydiving. When I was 20 years old I thought that standing in the doorway of an airplane and making the decision to jump out would be an exhilarating, life enhancing experience, but in my mid-50’s my encounter with this moment turned out to be somewhat “under-whelming.” Too bad. When I stood in the door of the plane, flying at 15000 feet, I did not fear death. I did not have my life flash before my eyes. I did not consider this a brave test. I just left the airplane and watched the plane fly away. Oh well, I am either very brave, completely insensitive, or just so experienced that my fear of near death does not get my adrenaline going as it might have done when I was younger, and had so much living yet to do.

I have reached the age where I have had to consider, and fill out, my health care directive. My directive states that I would not want a heroic effort to sustain my life if a catastrophic accident or illness befalls me. I am not willing to live life in a major rehabilitation mode, if I have any choice about this lifestyle. For me, if I can not be of service and work, I do not want to be taking up space. This may sound selfish to some people but I feel accountable only to myself when it comes to end of life decisions.

So, I wonder what I will get from my moments shared with a person turning 100? What can I learn from this role model about my attitude regarding aging and life? What will I be writing next week?

To be continued…