Does being 65 mean I'm "elderly"?

[Mackinaw]

Somebody on another board wished me a happy birthday today then wrote: "Once you achieve that milestone, every single measure of society declares you to be among the elderly. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Here's my response:

The definition of elderly varies all over the place, especially since the word "senior" seems almost to have replaced "elderly," except for the super old or the frail and old. The AARP started tagging us at age 50 -- noooooooooo! I'm not ready!!!!!!! The local movie theater started offering discounts to "seniors" at age 55. Thank you very much, we'll take the discount! The community center that the City manages gave us a senior discount because we were over 60. ("But you don't look old enough," they said! And my wife was "carded" in a local pub about 5 ot 6 years ago -- either the waiter's eyesight was really bad, or the lighting was dim, or the police were being especially vigilant for some reason so the employees went overboard.)

But it's true that once you reach my age, there's no turning back from the terminology. I'm a "senior" by almost any definition, but guess what? Though I haven't retired, I can sign up for Medicare; but nominal retirement age for Social Security is still a year away. However, when I reach that age, will I figure I'm living on borrowed time, so to speak?

And then I may have to make the kind of decision that I make every time I get onto a treadmill and set a "goal" of, say, 25 minutes on the machine. Do I feel less pain (exhaustion) if I let the machine count down from 25 minutes to zero, or if I count up from 0 to 25 minutes? It depends on where I am in the cycle. When I start off, I like to count the seconds and minutes I'm burning off -- so let it start at 00:00 and see those minutes of workout being accumulated. But when I get about half-way through, I like to count the remaining minutes and seconds, and watch those last 12:30 erode away to 00:00.

At this stage in my life, I'm not sure whether to count up or count down, or even whether I should count at all. After all, what's my "goal?" 


Addendum:  My parents are ages 94 and 90.  They are elderly.

[kachorn]

That remark seems familiar ... I wonder why.

Last year, the NY Times had an article on the stages of life.  It seems that where there used to be 4 stages - childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age - there are now 6.  Between adolescence and adulthood, there is now "odyssey" (something our children are in) and between adulthood and old age, there is "active retirement."  That's where my H and I are right now.  We consciously planned for an early retirement, because we knew there were lots of things that we wanted to do that we didn't have time for as long as we were working and we knew that there would come a time when we physically wouldn't be able to do as much as we wanted to.  Hopefully, that time won't arrive for another 20 years or so, but you never know what the future holds.  We were fortunate to be able to retire - what I don't know is if you can claim that you're in "active retirement" if you haven't yet retired.

I certainly don't feel as if I'm old enough to collect Social Security, though I am and I do.  Instead, every time I hear the Lovin Spoonful sing "Do You Believe In Magic?" I'm 19 again.

[Sophmom]

Mac said:

And then I may have to make the kind of decision that I make every time I get onto a treadmill and set a "goal" of, say, 25 minutes on the machine. Do I feel less pain (exhaustion) if I let the machine count down from 25 minutes to zero, or if I count up from 0 to 25 minutes? It depends on where I am in the cycle. When I start off, I like to count the seconds and minutes I'm burning off -- so let it start at 00:00 and see those minutes of workout being accumulated. But when I get about half-way through, I like to count the remaining minutes and seconds, and watch those last 12:30 erode away to 00:00.

At this stage in my life, I'm not sure whether to count up or count down, or even whether I should count at all. After all, what's my "goal?"

I guess the first time I read this, I dashed through too quickly. There's a life lesson there too: slow down and pay attention (not my strong suit). This reading, I see the poetry, the poignancy that I missed before. I still don't know the answer, though.

Kachorn, I like the notion of an "active retirement" stage, but can't imagine not working. We should think of a name for that.

[MalGaicy73]

I have been contemplating this question alot lately. What does being a Christian mean to me? This is really hard to say. When I I first became a Christian, I needed Hope in a cruel world. Now as I am older, I do still need hope. But there is still so much more then hope.

So my question to you, what does it really mean to be a Christian?

[Mackinaw]

I can't answer that question for you.  But I was reminded the other day by my sister of that old phrase, "There are no atheists in foxholes."

To return to my question at the top of this thread, at my age I may be entering in the foxhole stage of my life -- or I may not be there yet.  Should this affect my religiosity?

My elderly dad isn't doing so well.  A few days ago after suffering from a fall he was given some strong narcotic meds to deal with the pain.

This may have led him to hallucinate.  To see his brother's image on the ceiling -- so I was told by my sister.  When I talked to him, though,  he didn't say anything about it.  But whatever the reason, he had started praying.  He is in the foxhole of his life.  And I am heading home to see him.

[MalGaicy73]

To me it means that I belong to Christ forever.
It also means that I want to live a Christ-like life. This guides my thinking and decision making.
It also means that I have a living relationship with Christ.
Mike

[appacle09]

Of course there are lifeforms inside of our solar system but it depends on your specific definition of the question. If you mean mammal-like lifeforms, then of course not. Plant life or whatever yeah. Im not sure specifically on the matter but im sure there are other forms of plants.

In answer to the topic question, all I can say is lol.