Time Goes Screaming by at Warp Speed

Addressing my lament that I've gotten fat and bald in my early fifties, Been There writes:

Herculodge: don't know how old you are, but trust me when I tell you...you cannot look back and keep asking what happened. Time goes screaming by at warp speed as we get older. What until your daughters graduate from college...and get married...you will be a basket of melancholia and depression. That is if you let it get to you. I am getting close to 60 and finally have to admit I cannot to what I did when I was 30. In fact, I was so depressed I went out and bought a Harley!

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Comments

[jonnybardo]

I've often wondered if there is a connection between my interest in watches and awareness of time passing, aging, mortality, etc. It is odd that I love watches so considering my strong interest in nondual philosophy (e.g. Taoism, Zen, Dzogchen Buddhism, Vedanta, etc), which emphasizes being in the moment and not getting lost in discursive thought and the illusion of time. Or maybe that isn't odd at all but is a contrast for me to play off of.

[StarHalo]

Would definitely not recommend a Harley for a senior-life crisis; my mom tried this for a while and just couldn't put up with having to twist your back to go around corners, the constant vibration, etc. Find a nice used Caddy XLR-V instead..

[Keith Beesley]

"Be here now" is a good policy. I watched a really good documentary with my wife last night, called "How to Live Forever" by Mark Wexler. It contains, among the filmmakers own reflections on aging, a lot of interviews with people in their 80s, 90s, 100s, who are still enjoying life. It took away a lot of my own fears of being older. Available on Amazon Instant Video.

[jonnybardo]

Keith, I think the more people try to hold onto some past version of their life or self, the more they suffer.

There is something tragic about a woman (or man) who tries to hold onto her youthful beauty by dressing like a 20-year old, slathering on the makeup, having work done, etc; inevitably she (or he) ends up looking like a caricature of themselves. Every once in awhile I see a 60ish year old woman who has embraced her aging femininity and looks beautiful - there's something quite beautiful about an older person who embraces the process of aging, and even becomes re-vivified about life.

"Be here now" is a good policy partially because that's the only place we can ever be - yet we're constantly trying to escape it; as Eckhart Tolle likes to say, constantly trying to escape from where you are is one definition of madness. But its also a good policy because so much suffering fades away if we're fully present. So much of our suffering is based upon thoughts about the past and the future. Its my opinion that our cultural norm is actually quite insane, and a lot of it has two do with this constant escapism.

[Tom Welch]

I'm with Keith, JonnyBardo and all the rest or in the words of Bob Dylan "Don't Look Back". I would love to play racket ball or ride my rode bike again, but these activities are out of reach for me today @ 68 y/o.

[Angelo]

Jonny: I agree with much of what you have to say. I guess the people in Hollywood and the entertainment industry have a lot of experience with cheating father time----in many cases (not all) they know how to "stay young looking" in a reasonable way----with a few exceptions of course. But some of the politicians who are now on the bandwagon of "youth" look ridiculous. Instead of doing it correctly, they go haphazzard----big, fake looking white teeth that look like planks of drywall...hair plugs with an artifical looking color...really bad Botox treatments that puff them out. They end up looking ridiculous.

[owl]

Tecsun PL880 on its way?

There have been pictures which seems to be from the brochure of this model around for a few days:

http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/0002.asp?open=538042

Today someone who has close connection with Tecsun posted a few photos of a radio matching the brochure:

http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/0002.asp?open=538136

It is claimed the AM section of this new model adopts an architecture similar to ATS909X, i.e. dual conversion to 2nd IF of 450 KHz which is then inputted as RF signal into Si4734/5 and further downcoverted to the IC's "low IF" for DSP decoding.

Also, the 18650 Li-on rechargeable batteries are used in this model.

Additional features incudes separate LSB/USB and 10Hz step for SSB (implies dual PLL?).

No mention of Sync. detection though (a trade-off for DSP I guess).

[Ed S]

For people around my age, there are few male role models for how to age gracefully. I think guys like Arnold Schwartzenegger are a tad pathetic, trying to hold onto something he obviously lost decades ago. Even someone who was fit til the end like Jack Lalane looked like nothing so much as dried out beef jerky in running shoes.
You really can't turn back the clock, not permanently anyway. The question to ask is why would you? As Robert Browning wrote, "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!”