For those of you that are around 50 YO and over - do you think about death?

[Ken1951]

I'll turn 70 in July. My mom is going strong at 91. I punted meat other than fish in 1977, save for the occasional slice of pepperoni pizza - because - pizza. Can't kick chocolate and don't want to, but i focus on the dark variety. I exercise regularly and according to most people I don't look anywhere near my age. Do what you enjoy. Listen to music, keep learning, read, watch cool stuff. Still too much to do and places to see. I'm not religious and don't think about death all that much other than the usual contemplation of the universe sort of stuff. Relax. It may be hard at first, but you've gotta try or you're not going to enjoy your life.

 

[Doodski]

I'll turn 70 in July. My mom is going strong at 91. I punted meat other than fish in 1977, save for the occasional slice of pepperoni pizza - because - pizza. Can't kick chocolate and don't want to, but i focus on the dark variety. I exercise regularly and according to most people I don't look anywhere near my age. Do what you enjoy. Listen to music, keep learning, read, watch cool stuff. Still too much to do and places to see. I'm not religious and don't think about death all that much other than the usual contemplation of the universe sort of stuff. Relax. It may be hard at first, but you've gotta try or you're not going to enjoy your life.

Nice Kingfisher pic. I use this Kingfisher as my desktop background on my pooders.

 

[HiFidFan]

Porn isn't the number one use on the interwebs for no reason.....I don't think death keeps up much with that particularly except for those idiots encouraging more of it.

Well, the first one is much more fun to explore

Since our beginnings we have had rituals for death, wonderment of the afterworld, organized religion. All in the hope of understanding or coping with the inevitable. It spans human history & the globe. It's human nature.

 

[EJ3]

Hi.

I know this might be a touchy subject, but in 6 weeks I will turn 49. Recently I just can't stop thinking about how little time I have left, even if I'll live to be 80.

Thirty years pass quickly. I remember 1990 as if it was yesterday. I wonder who do people who are older than me deal with the fact that life must stop at some point, which can happen very soon if you're over 60...

I even stopped adding more music to my 50k+ tracks library, because I know that I don't have much time left to listen to all my music collection and enjoy it more than once.

I've also became a health nut. I only eat low carb raw vegan food, which taste like cr@p. Luckily, I don't look anywhere near 49 (most people assume I'm 35ish). But still can't shake the thought that I'm on borrowed time.

To make things worse, I'm an agnostic atheist, so I'm unable to assure my self that I'll be going to a better place. The way I see it, when you die, you "feel" exactly the same as you felt in the 1800's...

sometimes I can't even fall asleep because I'm scared that I won't wake up in the morning (my doctor says that I have death anxiety and he proscribed me some Xanax, which I decided not to take after I read the possible side effects... )

How do you deal with this sad fact of life? How does it feel to be over 70, knowing you can go any day?

I will be 64 on Monday. I have been to most places in the world that I have wanted to go to (and some that I did not want to go to). I got married for my only time after I had turned 48 (still married, although, due to our travels & this last year due to COVID-19, we have not seen each other for 2+ years (she went back to our home and business in Guam after we came here together May 2018). She sent her car here 2 months ago, so I expect her before the end of summer.
Like RobS said (well, sort of) don't eat healthy that you don't like. I came back from 18 years on atolls and islands in the Indian, Western Pacific and Oceana Oceans. I then started eating frequently at Waffle House, Hardee's, BBQ places and I went from 258 LBS to 225 Lbs because I was eating foods I liked and eating less. I started adding some salads (Wendy's has some good ones, as do some Mom & Pop places) every other day and vegetables and fruit on the opposite days and started riding a bicycle for 8 to 10 miles (55 to 70 minutes) 2 or three times a week + some general exercise (walking my mother's 45 lb. dog) about 3 miles on 2 or 3 other days of the week. Most people guess my age as being under 48. I, also have severely limited my purchases on new music for a different reason I want to thoroughly clean my 100's of LP's (& 78's), record them t archival CD-R's (I have recently acquired that capability by accident) when I bought some used albums & CD's. For my $200 (unbeknownst to me) a SONY CD recorder & 2 AKAI R2R's came with the 100 or so LP's & 200 or so CD's. I help take care of my 87 year old mother (who still go's boating and kayaking, I have a a wife, a son, a boat, live on deep water, small truck, 2 cars, a condo in Guam, a house and a job that I like. If I died tonight, my only regret would be that I did not get to finish taking care of my mother.
I am going to strongly re-echo BDWoody and please ask you to take the time to as he has suggested: I echo others, and hope that you are able to look until you find someone who can offer professional help that you are comfortable with. I am truly sorry you are struggling with this...but keep struggling until you get to the other side. Anxiety has a way of sucking the fun right out of life.

 

[Jstutman]

And I am not frightened of dying
Any time will do, I don't mind
Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime

 

[EJ3]

This isn't the right place for that discussion. Please leave politically controversial issues outside the forum.

Very true!

 

[Billy Budapest]

If death is the absolute end, and you are just gone, that is the scariest thing I can imagine. Would you “care” that you were gone? No—because there wouldn’t be anything that would be “you” anymore. No more consciousness, no more mind, thought, presence, being. Everything just wiped from existence. Terrifying.

The rational thinker in me believes the above statements. The spiritual dreamer in me hopes hopes there is something more.

 

[watchnerd]

I've always liked the idea from cultures in the past of having a 'good death'.

It's inevitable, so might as well go out with some purpose and panache.

 

[Doodski]

If death is the absolute end, and you are just gone, that is the scariest thing I can imagine. Would you “care” that you were gone? No—because there wouldn’t be anything that would be “you” anymore.

Humanity is a miracle of the universe. We each get our finite time here on earth and maybe one day others will get their time out there in the universe after humanity reaches that level of technology. I hope so.

 

[watchnerd]

Smaller maybe but there's usually some awesome guy/gal older than you that can still easily kick yer butt At least in cycling....

Olympic weightlifting is segmented, after age 35, by age brackets of 5 years.

And weight classes.

So now I'm in the 50-55 bracket and I'm the young one!

And my weight class is thinly populated.

 

[Blumlein 88]

It seems to me that a life without knowing there is inevitable death at the end would make it a lot less interesting.

The opening scene says "Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity"
Then your comment made me think of this scene later in the movie "Troy".

 

[Phorize]

Getting older has been great for competing in my sport as I move up the age brackets and the competition gets smaller.

I'll turn 51 next month.

There’s such a thing as old man strength too. At 47 I can lift better than I ever did (my strength coach is 59 and Olympic snatches 150kg-I’m no where near than by the way). I haven’t been able to train as normal in Brazilian jiujitsu during the pandemic but I started it in my 40s and was amazed at how good my strand up wrestling was, my ground work less so. My Bjj coach started judo when he was 50 and got his black belt at 53. He has been smashing masters competitions since his yellow belt. The thing about that is you get some masters comps with guys in their late 30’s in judo. Never give up!

 

[Phorize]

Olympic weightlifting is segmented, after age 35, by age brackets of 5 years.

And weight classes.

So now I'm in the 50-55 bracket and I'm the young one!

And my weight class is thinly populated.

I got into kettlebells when I was 40, and sought coaching. My coach is obsessed with Olympic lifting. I’m getting better at it but man it’s technical and you have you fix a lot of baggage to do it if you’ve been at a desk for decades-thats why I do it.

have you been lifting long?

 

[Doodski]

There’s such a thing as old man strength too. At 47 I can lift better than I ever did (my strength coach is 59 and Olympic snatches 150kg-I’m no where near than by the way). I haven’t been able to train as normal in Brazilian jiujitsu during the pandemic but I started it in my 40s and was amazed at how good my strand up wrestling was, my ground work less so. My Bjj coach started judo when he was 50 and got his black belt at 53. He has been smashing masters competitions since his yellow belt. The thing about that is you get some masters comps with guys in their late 30’s in judo. Never give up!

Judo (Not BJJ) taught me to never give up and to keep fighting till the end! I use it for falling off ladders, when I trip, crashing into stuff and of course the rare time that something req's firm defense and offense. Great sport and discipline; it was some of the best years of investment I made in life.

 

[watchnerd]

There’s such a thing as old man strength too.

Not to applicable to explosive strength, though, which declines faster with age than limit strength.

My squat has not declined in 7 years, and has gone up.

My speed and impulse power have declined.

 

[watchnerd]

I got into kettlebells when I was 40, and sought coaching. My coach is obsessed with Olympic lifting. I’m getting better at it but man it’s technical and you have you fix a lot of baggage to do it if you’ve been at a desk for decades-thats why I do it.

have you been lifting long?

Kettlebells are fun. I play with them in the off season for conditioning and hypertrophy blocks, using double KBs.

I've been lifting since high school.

Competitively, for 8 years.

 

[Phorize]

Kettlebells are fun. I play with them in the off season for conditioning and hypertrophy blocks, using double KBs.

I've been lifting since high school.

Competitively, for 8 years.

Lol, completely different league to me then! You are very lucky you found Olympic lifting early, it’s an incredible activity.

 

[Phorize]

Judo (Not BJJ) taught me to never give up and to keep fighting till the end! I use it for falling off ladders, when I trip, crashing into stuff and of course the rare time that something req's firm defense and offense. Great sport and discipline; it was some of the best years of investment I made in life.

Jigaro Kano was a very interesting man. The thing I love about judo is that the opponent gives you his 5 out of 10, so you add your 5 out of 10 to his-he gets 10 out of 10 and it’s over. But what if he gives you his 9 out of 10, well you add your 9 out of 10 to that-dude gets 18 out of 10. On the street he ain’t getting up, ever.

 

[watchnerd]

Lol, completely different league to me then! You are very lucky you found Olympic lifting early, it’s an incredible activity.

Wasn't quite that simple.

Cleans and snatches were learned in high school and college for S&C purposes for sports.

But learning to get good enough at them to compete wasn't until decades later. Started to train for competition at age 43.

These days, I spend 3 days a week training the lifts (have a lifting platform at home), 7 days doing mobility drills, and 2 days a week doing cross-training to help stability in the hole, usually with pilates or barre.

 

[Phorize]

Wasn't quite that simple.

Cleans and snatches were learned in college for S&C purposes for sports.

But learning to get good enough at them to compete wasn't until decades later. Started to train for competition at age 43.

These days, I spend 3 days a week training the lifts (have a lifting platform at home), 7 days doing mobility drills, and 2 days a week doing cross-training to help stability in the hole, usually with pilates or barre.

That’s awesome, I love to hear this!
My t spine mobility is the biggest enemy of my snatch at the moment-limits me through the window and even more in the hole.