Each of us has different motivations, because each of us is unique, whether young, or elderly (or Asian, or female, or... pick a tag, any tag).
What makes anyone keep going? Regardless of age/appearance/ability, our deepest human needs are to love and to be loved, yes? (Our deepest joys, yes?) We want to connect --and/or remain connected with others.
As we age, assuming we have "achieved the most (all) in life," (read: whatever we consciously set out to do in our younger years), we elderly --at least *I* want to love more --and feel I am still loved/needed/appreciated by others; ...that I am creating a positive difference in others' lives. As well, I continue to seek experiences/share time with others who help me learn more, understand more, which helps me to further connect/remain connected.
We (pick a tag, any tag) are excellent teachers for each other. Elderly and youth just cease to be able to communicate with each other (at least quickly); we find the others' words/topics/method of communication difficult/foreign, and we cease to spend time together, cease to understand each other, cease to connect/feel a connection.
My deepest desire for many years now is to understand more --as much as I can in this life. Under stand. Stand under another. Support him.
despite popular myth, it's nearly impossible to will yourself to die.
Trust me, elders who are widowed, who hurt, who have lived through as many of their dreams crashing and disintegrating as succeeding, who still haven't captured the gold ring, who are tired of it, still have that spark of life which means you wake up every morning and do it all over again because the alternative is death, and death is The End.
Oh, you can try suicide, but that really seems a chicken-feces thing to do; besides, you don't know that the next day might be a good day- something rare and too good to miss. So you keep going- and going and going and going.
That's the thing about life, about being alive: It doesn't want the ride to end. No matter how old, no matter how much suffering you've been through- your spouse dying, your friends dying, sometimes your children dying; pain, discomfort, incontinence, arthritis, bad heart, bad lungs, no teeth; no money, dependent on others, dignity stripped away- you can't quite accept the alternative, which is ending the ride.
Suicide is too much trouble, and willing yourself to death too improbable. So you just keep going.
0 comments:
Post a Comment