‘what meaning does life give to those people who live unable to lead their own lives?’
I read an editorial about the elderly the other day and it really brought a tear to my eye…maybe cos I feel I’m soon to be at that stage in life http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif or whatever…but imagine how lonely it could be when your bodies fail you, your friends die, your families have their own busy lives to lead.
‘Communication is difficult or impossible as their sight and hearing and speech decay. They are trapped in their own homes, in their own bodies. In the hollow gazes of their eyes you can just see sometimes that they know their lives are in the past: they don’t feel loved or needed any more.’ The feeling of fires going out…hollowness, loneliness.
‘To avoid aging is impossible. Growing old is inevitable. Acquiring aches and pains and stiff joints is natural - physical deterioration is built into our genetic make-up, so we have no choice but to eventually succumb. But of all the dark aspects of aging, the social aspect is the most frightening. Becoming isolated and losing touch. Being unable to communicate ideas and experiences and feelings, not being able to comprehend those around.’
Not that old people are deprived, but it must be among the most horrible states of existence to know only loneliness as a close friend and companion. Growing old is one of the fears of many people. To me it seems strange that someday it might be exhausting to sit down and write for an hour or to have to struggle to just put on my socks...
I find it hard to imagine that one day I won’t be able to run up the stairs or jump and play basketball; that this healthy body will one day weaken and someday die, and that I will no longer exist - but again, I can accept that part of it. What is hard to accept is being old and alone…
I read an editorial about the elderly the other day and it really brought a tear to my eye…maybe cos I feel I’m soon to be at that stage in life http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif or whatever…but imagine how lonely it could be when your bodies fail you, your friends die, your families have their own busy lives to lead.
‘Communication is difficult or impossible as their sight and hearing and speech decay. They are trapped in their own homes, in their own bodies. In the hollow gazes of their eyes you can just see sometimes that they know their lives are in the past: they don’t feel loved or needed any more.’ The feeling of fires going out…hollowness, loneliness.
‘To avoid aging is impossible. Growing old is inevitable. Acquiring aches and pains and stiff joints is natural - physical deterioration is built into our genetic make-up, so we have no choice but to eventually succumb. But of all the dark aspects of aging, the social aspect is the most frightening. Becoming isolated and losing touch. Being unable to communicate ideas and experiences and feelings, not being able to comprehend those around.’
Not that old people are deprived, but it must be among the most horrible states of existence to know only loneliness as a close friend and companion. Growing old is one of the fears of many people. To me it seems strange that someday it might be exhausting to sit down and write for an hour or to have to struggle to just put on my socks...
I find it hard to imagine that one day I won’t be able to run up the stairs or jump and play basketball; that this healthy body will one day weaken and someday die, and that I will no longer exist - but again, I can accept that part of it. What is hard to accept is being old and alone…
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