getting old

[User]

what are your tips for getting old, it kind of sucks

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

Die young?

[User]

i missed that boat

[User]

my main complaints about getting old:

- less tolerance of spicy foods, they fuck up my stomach way more and more often now
- slower metabolism, getting fatter day by day
- losing hair, doing full inverted wok on top
- recover more slowly from exercise
- not capable of earlier feats of energy and passion
- people start referring to me as uncle
- increased cynicism about the activities of the youth

when i was young i studied philosophy and did the whole meaning of life thing again and again and all that but it was better because i was still young. now i am not young and all the same bullshit is there. hmm

[shadowalk]

I just bought one of those NutriBullet juicers from Amazon.

[jawn galliano]

as i approached 40 i found i had run my course and had no room left to grow. and with the rapidly advancing signs of age and decline, i began to obsess over my own imminent mortality. this was untenable, so i had to rewire my brain and find new ways to think. so i did that. those tendencies which oriented me toward despondency are no longer in the driver's seat. i have a good handle over my habits of thought and of generally being alive. i have lost close to 30 pounds this year. we'll see if it turns out to be useful or endures past a few months, but early signs are promising. i'm not so sure this prescription is more widely useful though

[User]

i can't lost 30 pounds cos then i would be a rake

but i like the sound of rewiring my brain

at the same time, i refuse to lose my edge, which is the thing that makes me ME, and i have carried since birth, honed through experience

also michael's contribution mystifies

[jawn galliano]

i am aiming for 30 mostly just to give myself a little extra buffer for the winter when i bloat up, so that getting back to normal skinny is less onerous when spring rolls back around. i peaked at 178 earlier this year, last week weighed in at 152 and generally have been able to shed about a pound consistently each week, i think we have enough warmish weeks left to hit the full 30 and then i can figure out a maintenance routine.

i have found that whatever edges i think of as characteristic have not been dulled or lost so much as sheathed. but now there are many others which require honing, which is a challenging process

[zim]

my complaints

- watching parents (and other relatives) get older
- harder time waking up
- feeling jaded about many things, loss of childhood like excitement over new things
- financial responsibility
- general apathy

i don't worry so much about my mortality and what not. mentally i feel pretty young but more tired than i'd like. i wish i didn't feel as cynical and jaded about lots of things but i suppose that's not necessarily an age thing. i'm trying to get my weight/health in a good position moving forward but it really does require a lot of effort

[jawn galliano]

i think it's probably pretty unusual to fixate on your own death in this age bracket, but circumstances conspired to foist that one on me way ahead of schedule. oh well, what can you do

[Ninny]

Drink less alcohol. Exercise, lift weight to hold on to your muscle mass. Regular nights. Learn new things. Accept that life is fucking boring most of the time. Though Luke gets lots of action, travel, woman, studies You're still young, late 30s. It's probably the extreme alcohol consumption that's getting you down.

[Z's bouncy tits]

Worst, is losing both parents. Only early 60s too. So I have 20 years left. Joy.

[jawn galliano]

aye, that's the precise manner of foisting in my case

[User]

It's probably the extreme alcohol consumption that's getting you down.

the truth hurts

[Ryeknow]

This is something I thought about a lot before, but something happened in the last few years, I just quit caring about it. I mean hey, so many people never even had a chance to make it to this age, who are we to complain? We all seem fairly healthy and doing OK for ourselves

Crank up that rock n roll, and smack that huge bunger of life until our time is up

[Svartmetall]

what are your tips for getting old

Wait.

[Svartmetall]

Hell, I'm 56 now and I feel great; between losing a ton of weight and the related increase in my fitness levels, going onto reduced hours at work and getting seriously back into making music again (which was the main reason apart from basic work/life balance that I went onto reduced hours in the first place) I'm feeling happier and more alive than I have done for years.

I could probably waffle on and on about Life Stuff™ and I've definitely had my share of adversity and shit to go through, so to avoid excessive wittering on I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have about stuff.

My approach to life and living it at 56, the TL:DR version:

You work to live, you don't live to work.
Play enough to have fun, but not so much that you die 20 years before you might otherwise have done.
Be careful about things, but not to the extent that you don't have any fun; you're supposed to have fun.
You WILL have things you regret so learn from them, don't let them control you; if you get to your 40s or 50s and don't have things you regret then you weren't fucking trying
By the same token, though, don't beat yourself up about shit that's not your fault.
Spend at least some time every single day with sky over your head, instead of a ceiling. Look at the stars too, from time to time; the universe is a wonderful thing.
Find the thing you love doing and fucking do it.

Oh, and always be nice to animals. Animals are great.

[Mesarthim]

only thing that has really hit me is not being as flexible and not having the same stamina that I used to. of course, that might also be from not hitting the gym as much as I should be.

[Grudge]

Interesting thoughts

[Ninny]

Hell, I'm 56 now and I feel great; between losing a ton of weight and the related increase in my fitness levels, going onto reduced hours at work and getting seriously back into making music again (which was the main reason apart from basic work/life balance that I went onto reduced hours in the first place) I'm feeling happier and more alive than I have done for years.

I could probably waffle on and on about Life Stuff™ and I've definitely had my share of adversity and shit to go through, so to avoid excessive wittering on I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have about stuff.

My approach to life and living it at 56, the TL:DR version:

You work to live, you don't live to work.
Play enough to have fun, but not so much that you die 20 years before you might otherwise have done.
Be careful about things, but not to the extent that you don't have any fun; you're supposed to have fun.
You WILL have things you regret so learn from them, don't let them control you; if you get to your 40s or 50s and don't have things you regret then you weren't fucking trying
By the same token, though, don't beat yourself up about shit that's not your fault.
Spend at least some time every single day with sky over your head, instead of a ceiling. Look at the stars too, from time to time; the universe is a wonderful thing.
Find the thing you love doing and fucking do it.

Oh, and always be nice to animals. Animals are great.

[Grudge]

I'm not yet 40, but I will be next year. Coincidentally, I'm also experiencing some challenges on the personal front, so I suppose this can be classified as a mid-life crisis for me, and it's helping me focus on the future.

Anyway, in view of the above, I've given a lot of thought to getting old. It basically comes down to just 2 things for me.

1. Don't die poor
2. Don't die before your time

Everything else has to derive from the above two, including "fulfillment", "finding meaning to life" and all that other jazz.

For No.1: If you're 40, you've only got 25-27 years until retirement age. So get focused on making as much money now as you can, that can be a sustainable means. Because past that retirement, you're going to need something to keep you alive for another 15-20 years. You should be working today to survive the last 20 years of your life. But this is not about just doom and gloom, having money helps you enjoy and seek self-fulfillment. So go and get yours!

For No.2: now is the time you have to start getting wise about diet, exercise and health precautions. It's not easy, but neither is giving up smoking or any other addiction. You think you're immortal in your twenties and early thirties, and that sense of immortality can dangerously continue to be your mindset when you can no longer afford to have it around age 40. A heart attack from clogged arteries can easily happen to you. Any number of medical conditions from dangerous living. And since medical problems are expensive to treat, well, go back to the importance of point number 1.

[User]

good thoughts ironic man (remembering your marxist phase). i disagree with the money thing but otherwise i am on board, choo choo

[Grudge]

My political views have not changed. What's evolved is my thinking around self-preservation, which is completely compatible with my political philosophy.

[Grudge]

In fact, the fact that I even have to worry about how I'm going to survive past retirement is itself a criticism of capitalism. So I don't know what you are on about there Luke.

[Verbal]

i could do with winning the lottery

[jawn galliano]

it's true, marxists living under capitalist hegemony have to play by the same rules to survive as even the most enthusiastic friedmanite. the main question i suppose is whether or not one's views inform what lengths they're willing to go to. thus far i have constrained myself rather consciously from advancing into positions of management, which in turn places severe restrictions on my earning potential, as there isn't much headroom in my organization for non-managerial high-wage roles. the sole exception being software development, which is a skill i neither possess nor have any desire to cultivate. but i don't think this is a sustainable posture and it is rather distressing because i have very serious reservations about switching sides and directly abetting exploitation (any more than simply being alive and working in the US does, anyway).

as living (and especially housing) costs in the US continue to far outgrow wages though, even keeping one's head above water is a significant challenge, even if you're fortunate enough to have a dual-income arrangement. this is, i believe, the material basis for the rather recent explosion in the popularity of polyamory and its attendant nontraditional housing arrangements. it's especially prevalent in the major metro areas around here, where it's common to have an income requirement well into the six-figure range to be able to afford to buy with the current price and interest rate levels. purchasing in my neighborhood is pretty much out of the question under 200k/year and while it's one of the nicer areas in this city, it's by no means a wealthy enclave.

so while in spirit i agree that the money question should not be a primary one in the big picture, if you don't have good prospects for dying young, it's one that has to be addressed if you have any ambitions that extend past dying alone in a gutter in your 50s.

[User]

nothing wrong with imran living the way he is living. it's just different to me, the explicit money priority. you can't escape it, but i try to ignore money as much as possible, in that chronic sense. it comes and goes, take it in stride, help others and do what you enjoy. i think it helps that i am OK with dying poor and without residential or income security, but i still do not see it happening, deep down, no matter what i do i think of it as low probability. built-in optimism. then part of me would kind of enjoy it as a way to go out. it would give a very different perspective on life, since i have been so materially fortunate up to now. and it's based mostly on factors outside my control anyway, so why stress about it.

further, with all my activities in southeast asia, and myanmar in particular, and my loved ones here, i mean i am constantly surrounded by people with so much less than what i have, and less opportunity to ever escape the structures that fuck them down, me being concerned about money for my personal security is kind of obscene. when i give a couple of hundred to one of my dozens of stateless friends eking it by here, it makes a huge difference. it is like if imran had never studied abroad, had stayed in balochistan but escaped his rich family bubble to work for an urban poor NGO in karachi. he would have a very different perspective by now. he'd be a lot poorer but he may be happier because he made more meaningful political actions in his daily life, being surrounded by a different relative value of 'wealth'.

mind you i still feel uncomfortable about some $$$ things, like paying USD 20,000 for my upcoming wedding. not happy about that at all, would prefer it in the bank account. but family is important.

[Verbal]

having no money sucks. only those with money get to not worry about it

[zim]

"it's just money"

really hate that one

[User]

yeah the only burmese who talk that way are the monks

and deep down, many don't believe it

speaking of that, did anyone see the creator? AI propaganda robot monks

[User]

on a practical note i would also like to note that stormy should take a management job and be a good manager and corrupt the system from the inside

come on internalcorn, you are already reforming over revolution, take it to the top

[jawn galliano]

"In a certain sense the coherence of spectacular society proves revolutionaries right, since it is evident that one cannot reform the most trifling detail without taking the whole thing apart. But at the same time this coherence has eliminated every organised revolutionary tendency by eliminating those social terrains where it had more or less effectively been able to find expression: from trade unions to newspapers, towns to books. In a single movement, it has been possible to illuminate the incompetence and thoughtlessness of which this tendency was quite naturally the bearer. And on an individual level, the reigning coherence is quite capable of eliminating, or buying off such exceptions as may arise."

[Verbal]

"it's just money"

really hate that one

or "money isnt everything", or "money doesnt buy happiness"