Thank Grog It’s Firday!
This has been “one of those weeks,” when all of my deadlines conspired to rob me of precious sleep, at a time when I am supposed to be celebrating time off with the family. The good news about getting old, is that we supposedly require less sleep. As I have been getting about 4 hours a night for the better part of the past 2 weeks, and I am still here to write about it, I’m going to go with that. Coffee helps…as does being able to smile every time I play the “obituary game” in the Sunday paper.
The fact is, when you are young, the thought of living to a “ripe old age” is simply ludicrous to most. When Paul McCartney penned “When I’m 64” when he was 24 years old, it was obvious that he was actually having fun with concept of trying to imagine his life 40 years in the future. And let’s be honest, it wasn’t a pretty picture.
“Send me a postcard, drop me a line, Stating point of view…
Indicate precisely what you mean to say,
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form, Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four”
“Yours sincerely wasting away?” “Will you still feed me?” Holyfreakinshirt!! That sounds like Elder-Abuse!!
Let me make something perfectly clear. I’d be fine with getting old, if my body would just stop aging. And as far as “staying young at heart,” I play and blog about TSTO don’t I??? This is NOT an old man’s game! You need really good reading glasses to see the damn screen details!!
So, what does 64 feel like?
Well…it feels a little achy, with a bit of denial and panic thrown in for good measure. But mostly, it feels good to know that I am “still winning the game.”
My favorite quote about aging is attributed to a few people…but according to “BrainQuotes.com” it may be Ben Franklin who said it first, while Carl Reiner made it famous on an HBO Special. It goes something like, “I wake up every morning and read the obituaries. If my name isn’t in it, I get up and have breakfast.”
My “Obituary Game” is more “team oriented.” Years ago, I arbitrarily decided that living any longer than the “average life expectancy” charts was excessive. As the current U.S. Life Expectancy charts indicate, if I am average, I am supposed to live to at least the age of 76.3 years. So, the way the game is played, is you look at all of the obits, and then count those who died “before their time,” vs those who lived to the proper expiration date, and then figure out if “your team beat the odds.” I’m all about “team.” And I our team “wins,” I feel better about my chances for making it to the finish line. If my team loses (more of us croaking than those who lived beyond 76), I just figure I will ask to be traded from the team when the time comes. Hence the “denial” part.
I hate seeing people younger than me in the obits. I really hate seeing people I know. And I would really, really, really hate to see my own name there.
I have a lot of living to do, if I am going to maximize the last years of my life (as they have been allocated by official census takers of the United States government). For me…that would be a wopping 12.3 more years of life. And let me tell you how fast 12.3 years of life can go by…especially if you spend more time than you should playing mobile games on your padular device, when you could be doing something that matters.
However, part of getting older, is gaining the ability to rationalize almost anything I do–good or bad–in my life. And turning my weird diversion of playing and blogging about a mobile game to a worldwide audience, is offset easily by knowing that the income I earn, goes to help our Friends in Buyijja to have a better life.
And this year, after years of turning my head, and doing the “something has to be done about this,” (while doing nothing but clicking my tongue and shaking my head), I am diving head-first into making a ripple in the ocean of need, that is local homelessness. My involvement with Rotary International, as well as my ability to communicate and motivate, promises to be a full-time endeavor in the coming years. And frankly, after watching countless friends and associates retire to a life of wandering the world on expensive trips, or wandering the golf course in pursuit of “the perfect round,” I am not really ready for retirement.
In fact, I would prefer to do as a good friend of mine did recently, who rather than having a “retirement party,” when he left his position with a research facility, chose instead to have a “Re-Wirement Party.”
Rewirement. I love that term. Because if research proves anything about longevity and enjoying life to the fullest, it is that taking on new challenges, continuing to learn, and simply being too busy to slow down enough to let the grim reaper catch you, is far more advisable than fretting about ways to “keep healthy while avoiding death.”
I’m not afraid to die. I am afraid of being bored to death…or worse, living a life without meaning.
So…if you have read this far, thanks for your patronage. You clearly must fall into the small (and perhaps declining) category of “those who like what Patric writes.” No worries either way. The fact is, I’m too busy these days to care much about opinions, politics, or the latest popular culture. I’d rather just DO…and let the critics eulogize me when I’m gone (critics rarely do much…except have opinions without solutions).
I know that there are a number of you in the “older demographic.” I also know that a goodly number of you are like me, struggling to make sense and add value to the final years of our lives. Here’s my challenge…
Pick something you care about…and then DO something about it. Don’t whine. Don’t talk about the problems without offering a solution. Get to work. This life is only valuable when you bring value to it… It’s not time to retire. It’s time to Rewire!
Here’s to a transformative year! Here’s to making a difference. Here’s to living better…and perhaps longer!
So when it comes to making your “New Year’s Resolutions”…take the focus off of yourself, and point your energy to others.
Losing 10 pounds this year? Pffft...donate time to the local Food Bank to feed those who are hungry every day.
Remodeling the house because you “deserve that new kitchen?” Not before you help find a solution to endemic homelessness in your community.
Take another trip to visit exotic places? How about taking a trip to a country that needs your volunteer help…or taking that travel fund and donating half to a charity that offers shelter to teens, families, or displaced mentally ill?
Let me know what you are doing…
Give me your answer, fill in a form, Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me. When I’m sixty-four
OK. You don’t need to feed me. And you probably don’t need me…
but, I will be 64 on New Year’s Day.
Time for some rewirement…
Happy* belated* Birthday Patric ! I’m 62, I started playing TSTO about 6 months after it first came out . My 2 grown-up daughters also play. We are a gaming family. Your never too old to play …something
Happy birthday a few hours early Patric 🎂 Here’s to a NEW New Year, this one needed to be over with 😆😆
Amen to that!!!
My mom was 81 and played until this past fall. I’m 50 and TSTO is my first stop in the morning. My philosophy is you can either be old or be dead and I’m having too much fun getting old to die.
Love it! I’m currently so busy, I could die, and not notice it for months!
You did it again Patric, you make me sit and start thinking in a lot of things, specially this line ” I am afraid of being bored to death…or worse, living a life without meaning.” A few months ago I was asking my in-laws what they would like to do when they stop working and closed the company, both of them didn’t said anything. They have been so inmerse in the company since 2005 and previous jobs and kids, that they forgot a life after those things, now they are 65 and 64. Sometimes its so difficult to think in the importance of having something to do after retirement, a hobby, volunteering, holidays, etc, I know money makes a huge difference.
I know a lot of people are afraid to the retirement afterlife, I believe that every stage of life is amazing, all of them give us knowledge, challenges, happiness and sadness so we need to learn and grow physical, mental and spiritual way.
Its great that you have a young spirit and mind, it doesn’t matter the age, we need that kind of people 😳 and by this I make a HUGE difference between “mind-thinking” and “mind-acting” , (I have a friend that is in 40plus and act like a teenager 😉)
Videogames help us in a lot of ways, relax, chillout, learning, exercise, etc, so, there is not a certain age to start and most important quit playing videogames, just remember that the videogames doesn’t absorb your real life 🙂
Next year I’ll be 37, and I just had my baby girl, and feels amazing 😀 I don’t play a lot of videogames, my mind is stuck in NES and some Gsmecube games, some of the games makes me feel dizzy with all the camera’s rotations and its hard for me to play a 3D game, specially when I’m trying to have a “walking straight” 😂
A quick FYI my last two great-uncle and great-antie they used to have facebook, twitter instagram, ipads and iphones they were very avid to use them, both pass away this year, both of them were my grandma siblings, the youngest, he pass away in february at 92 and she die in september at 94 , the last time she play the piano was last year during her birthday 😀 .. So there not an old age… Just and old body and old mind (this we need to keepit fit and young)
Happy two new years !!! The 2018 and your birthday!!! 😁😳 all the best for this new year!!🎉🎆🎁🎇😳😁
And sorry for all the confusing ideas, my mind always think faster that my writing, and even that I lived 5 years in Australia, english is not my first language and I always have problems with grammar (spanish and english 😕)
What a lovely tribute to looking forward to living a long life! Thanks much for some great examples!
65 here. I taught my (now 30s boys) most games on Nintendo, Commodore 64, PCjr, et. al. I still play MMOs and tablet games (cell phone screen now too small, dangit). “When I get older…” I still have my hair, ha!
Hi Patric. Just turned 60. Good health and all my marbles, at least I think so, which is just as good. Not ready to be put out to pasture yet. TSTO just makes me laugh. Lots of us oldsters spending way too much time playing it on our padular devices. Great you are trying to make a difference. Example to us all.
Glad you still have all your marbles.
I seem to run into more and more people who are a few fries short of a Happy Meal
TLDR the answer is when your over 9000 years old that’s when you should stop playing games
Happy birthday Patric!🎁🎊🎉🎂
Thanks!!
Great post. Truly I don’t think there is an old, or if there is it’s when one gives up and no longer wants to grow/learn/experience things etc. My grandma will be 80 next year, has been “retired” for a while has a garden that she grows a ton of stuff in and donates to her local shelter and church, teachs Sunday school, and volunteers in loads of other stuff. She is very happy and active. Your age is basically what you want to make it, aches aside. Love your posts 😎
Your grandma sounds like a wonderful person, and a great example!
Happy Birthday Patric
I’m 47 and still play!! If I enjoy it, then who cares!! My kids make fun of me, but whatever!!
Really nice piece, Patric. I’m 54 and keep young and vital in a lot of ways. I teach special needs children, exercise, review new music for an online site, and try to be creative. My 20-something children keep me young, too, as does playing TSTO (and the new Animal Crossing game!). It’s often said, but bears repeating; age is just a number. I know people my age and younger who have settled into the McCartney-esque wasting away mode, and conversely I know people older than me who are living a grand life. Young people can’t grasp the urgency of life as easily as we in the 50-and-above category, but they’ll find out eventually. Have a great 2018 and thanks for the uplifting writing.
Thanks Steve! And yes…as much as I hate to say it, 54 and 64 are worlds apart! But, all is well…
“My 20-something children keep me young” – Wow such a big family, amazing! Congratulations
There is an old lady that have a youtube channel where she plays Skyrim. You’re never too old.
So… this begs the question… how old is old?
Simple… Old… It just old…. Depends of your mind 😁
When your 54, the age I will be next year, new years resolution’s always start positive but fade out by February, good intentions turn into daily grind and resolutions broken, to live your life by being fair, equal and caring, show compassion and love to others and just showing that you care when going about your daily grind, happy 2018 tappers, happy 64th birthday patric
I do think the key to a great resolution, is to do something for others…it’s easier than trying to alter yourself at this age! LOL!
Is anybody else having a problem completing 12/29/17 ‘s daily challenge? Mine is stuck. The send Rigellians to battle worked twice but will not work for the 3rd and final time to complete the challenge……
You should be able to change them at some point. An X will appear in the top right corner of the box to change your daily challenges.
Thanks and Happy New Year!
happy “new years” birthday patric. excellent appraisal on aging – I especially liked the part about “if my body would just quit aging”
I took an early retirement from GM & started volunteering that night at the library. it’s wonderful to be able to “give back”.
it is really annoying…mostly. There is a great line from Little Feat’s “Old Folks Boogie” that goes, “you know that you’re over the hill, when your mind makes a promise that your body can’t fill…”
So appropriate. LOL!
definately – like last year when I taught my granddaughter to ice skate & I was having such a great time that I decided to buy a new pair of skates & start going regularly to the indoor rink. then I fell, broke my pelvis & ended up in a wheelchair! just physically can’t do everything I think I can.
If I recall, the RMW for and IRA starts at age 71 and assumes 23 years. So set your sights on surviving another 7 years.
Mostly….I am going to keep burning and earning until my wife can take retirement in 6 years. All good!
Early September babies — we know how mom and dad celebrated New Years.
January 1 babies — we know how mom and dad celebrated April Fools Day
Soooooo true! We have a TON of November birthdays in our family…long winter nights?
My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, did I just read you’re getting colder?
HA! Good old Ferd!
I just turned 44, probably still a kid in the eyes of those who are about to retire(we salute you), but there is one thing I can relate to and it’s how fast life does fly by. I was fine tuning my resume last month and realized I’ve been in my profession for over 22 yrs. I sat back in my chair and thought what the heck! Where did all that time go? So I guess in a few years, or what it will seem like, when I reach 64 and thinking wasn’t I just 44 yesterday? I hope I can look back with the satisfaction, like I can now, that not only am I alive but most importantly…. I have lived!
P.S. That song always reminds me of the movie “The World According to Garp” with Robin Williams
Have a very happy birthday! I also played the obits game…..and having just turned 43 on wed….its even sadder to see that age group dropping si early! I no longer get the paper. Dont miss it either. Enjoy life! Make a stamp in it….do something! I agree….we’re only here once and a short once! God bless!
Funny enough, the average age of a player/gamer playing any game worldwide has been in the mid 30’s for the last 5yrs. GOOGLE statistics.
So if it wasn’t for all the much “older” players playing, the average age would be quite lower than mid 30’s.
I often chuckle to myself when a kid says “he’s playing a kids game”
No lad, u are in the minority 😉
Most games I play are perfect time fillers.
That’s how I like it.
Remember the Geezers! We’re here and we shape the actuary tables!!
While it is true that the average life expectancy for a male born in the U.S. this year is 76.3 years, this includes all of the infant mortalities and people who pass away at an early age.
Since you’ve already made it past all of that to 64, your actual life expectancy is 87 years….
Good to know…I’ll be beating the odds for sure…But, if my body keeps whining at me like it does right now (thanks football and rugby!) 20+ more years sounds like a lot of trouble… I’ll be fine if I hit 80
You’re never too old for games.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Patric 🙂
Wow! Happy Birthday friendly cranky old guy! Aaaaaah! If all humans were like you we would live in a better place! It is my way of thinking too. I help in many little ways along my path. If everyone made even a little difference to this world, we could live all in peace, there would be enough food to feed everyone too. I have campaigned against the food wastage from big supermarkets, wrote to politicians. Things move slowly. I help were ever I can. You are a good guy! Good on ya!
Thanks, Joco! And yes…if everyone just did a little, just gave even 5% of time or treasure…this world would be an entirely different place.
Happy early birthday