Turning 70 Years Old

..Reaching 70 years old this January, the changes from aging have been noticeable both mentally and physically although in my case not nearly so impactful as changes I have seen in others my age. That is, I know of people suffering from colon diseases and joint ailments and all manner of problems, yet for reasons I cannot fully explain, I feel healthy. A few childhood friends have died of self-inflicted diseases related to alcohol or tobacco, and my diet has always included sugar and processed foods, so I can only assume regular exercise and genetics and maintaining a proportional body weight as reasons for my relative longevity. Sheer luck also seems to be a factor in human lifespan, considering that random accidents on the highway or being struck by lightning or having a tree fall on one’s house kills some people. Near death experiencers sometimes claim that a voice tells them it is ‘not their time’, so lifespan may be partially beyond our control despite our faith in free will… Generally, the longer one lives the more one becomes conscious of limited future years, although because I have thoroughly examined my own mortality, death does not alarm me. I have known states of mind that indicate a kind of immortality-if not literally-then in a universal sense of being connected to a transcendent reality from which we can never detach ourselves. At root my inner experiences have exposed the paradox between belief is seeing and seeing is believing, where reality becomes as unintuitive as quantum particles being waves and particles at the same time. Human consciousness seems to be able to perceive that duality inherent in its own fabrication….Regarding the perception of time, occasionally I see a child walking or playing and think to myself that ‘I was that age once’, and marvel that, despite changing perceptions, time still passes the same for both of us. In behavior I notice myself being a little more obsessed with sweeping the sidewalk clean of snow or doing dishes or other minor tasks, if I am needlessly trying to keep ahead of the accumulation. My short term memory has deminished to the point that a ‘ten second’ rule now applies to thoughts rather than dropped food. Out of sight out of mind sometimes means that something I had been engaged in only a minute before is forgotten as I become distracted by something else. In one case I searched for ‘lost’ glasses for a full minute before Beth noticed that they were on my face all the while. Physically, I see and hear and read and write and walk and bike and golf and play guitar and do all the other things I have always done with as much satisfaction as ever -just a little more slowly and with less endurance.I have become less heat tolerant and tire more easli in high humdidty. I have not noticed any hearing loss, although I seem to be startled a little more easily-as if I am absorbed within a detached inner bubble more than when I was when younger… Lately I have become concerned with politics- perhaps because the people in power are my peers, and I find many of them lacking in the wisdom and compassion and morality that they should have learned by now. To that end I write to my representatives frequently… Economically, Beth and I have accumulated a modest portfolio through disciplined contributions to retirement funds and lifelong, budgeted lifestyles. That money, combined with social security and working together ten or fifteen hours a week at Beth's cleaning business, provides us with everything we need or want-including winter travel…The Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach continues to impress me as the best piece of music ever written, and The Beatles and other bands from the 1960’s/70’s are my primary listening. My journal writing has declined after first being inspired by Thoreau 50 years ago, so the blog and emails are my primary outlet now. In truth, I have only earned some two to three thousand dollars directly or indirectly from writing, most of that related to my association with Walkfit…The process of writing seems to be intact, and written words still come more easily than spoken ones. Emotionally and spiritually,I have always found that solitary walking in nature cures many ills-both mentally and physically. That forgotten passtime seems particularly vital in this modern age when social media and other distractions are compromising peoples mental health.