Getting old sucks!
It seems like every day I am reminded of how old I have become. I realize that 47 is still relatively young... but screw relativity. This is about how I feel. In my mind, I am still a cool twenty-something Gen Xer hanging out at clubs until 4:00 AM, acting like an idiot, and drinking Zima... well maybe not drinking Zima but you get the point.
Your wish is my command.
But right now I can't even read a Zima bottle without either holding it at arm's length, taking off my glasses or asking my son "what does that say"? I am now one of those guys looking for an obscenely large phone so that when I blow up the font 1000x I can read more than two letters at a time.
My school recently hired a new crop of teachers who I lovingly refer to as "the kids". They are who I still think I am in my own delusional brain. They are young and act like idiots... and I am so jealous. Things really hit home when one of them told me their dad was 46 years old. I am 47. Can we please pause for a moment of silence for my not so recently deceased youth? Thank you very much.
I can handle that my back hurts every second of every day, I can't see, I have to turn up the TV way beyond 11 to hear it, and people in their 30s now call me "sir", but today I hit a new low.
I have always been quite proud of my internal clock. Because I spent a great deal of my life hanging out to 4 or 5 in the morning, I never really adjusted to "normal" time. Although I fought through my nature in order to avoid being fired from a job that starts at 7:30 AM, I always longed for the summers when I could return to my natural state and sleep as long as I possibly could. This essentially meant until my children woke up raring to go. I even counted that as me wanting to wake up, not having to wake up.
Today I started my summer vacation. It should have been the most glorious day of 2019. I should have been dreaming of clubbing and Zima. I should have been sleeping so deeply that I would need to throw out my pillow due to the copious amounts of drool I would produce. I should have been making up for the 10 months of forced arousal (wait maybe that is the wrong choice of words). Instead, I woke up at 5:35 AM... for no freaking reason. It's two and one half hours later, and my damn kids still aren't awake. Some people get upset when their kids first beat them in basketball. But that is nothing compared to the shame I feel right now. My kids out-slept their old man. It's over.
Do they let you sleep to 11:00 in Heaven? In mine they will.
When I was a kid I would always make fun of my stepfather for waking up at 4:30 AM... for no reason. Now I am him. This is a sad day. The only thing that give me solace is the mantra I have been repeating in my head for the past several years:
"It sucks getting old... but it sure beats the alternative."
"It sucks getting old... but it sure beats the alternative."
This one is the best! Love it.
I'm still young, under 30 - but lots of friends above 50 says the 30 is the first step, after that is 50 :/ especially if you are into trainings like we all are into martial arts. The body, just can't sustain all the stuff everyday, but then techniques comes to play.
Anyways, I can tell you that as a music lover, I almost always chose versions of the same singer in the old days than in his younger/prime days, well most of the time. :)
Enjoy life in every stage!
Great point about Martial Arts or anything athletic. It can actually be pretty humorous when your mind says "Run and get that ball." And your bodily simply says " How about No?"
Sometimes, I think that's why God created 'grandkids'...Hey...run...go get that ball for your granpa'...you're prolly not there yet; but, just a thought.
Peace.
Great observations @hanshotfirst! It's so funny how you Imagine what it's like when you get older, when you're younger...& Then you get older, and you don't feel old In your mind...But, your body reminds you that time is ticking away! Lol... I can just envision what all of our parents were thinking when they were our ages now...They were probably thinking "You just wait!" :)
LOL. Great point! I bet 10 years from now I will laugh at myself for complain now... just wait.
Haha!!! Yes & so will I...Great stuff my friend! Take care:)
Ah, GBY, dear sir...no disrespect intended...lol...
Omg...you're at that age where you are too young to be old and too old to be young...What a great age to be! Wouldn't you agree?
Smh...I can't imagine being a rookie teacher nowadays. At least you know the ropes, and the real deal of the matter.
Sadly, most new teachers don't last; because, they realize how emotionally consuming the job is.
Enjoy your summer. I contracted for nearly a decade; and, had to accept the Call of God to leave the profession. I was emphatically reminded where God is not welcome, He is not there. As you know, prayer is not allowed in the public school. Not even a harmless, yet powerful moment of dedicated silence.
Since that Supreme Court decision back in the 60s, that once safe haven for 'parentless' children has become a huge hell hole, from too many perspectives...smh...rme....
Anyhoo, are you sure your early waking isn't anxiety? Perhaps, those early waking hours may be time to be used to plan/jumpstart a new startup?...just a thought. After all, depending on the amount of seniority you have, it might be a good idea to start thinking of your retirement package...After all, you don't want to be one of those teachers who teaches until they drop center stage in the middle of a sentence...do you?...smh...reserved lol...serious food for thought.
Peace.
I quoted this at least 10 ties this week.
It was the style at the time!
Yeah, I was torn between this one and the classic "old man yells at cloud" one
Being an old is the thing which can make you definitely stronger then other person because the thing which you have the youngsters dont have. That's experience and the things of looking towaeds position in a different way from young person.
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Yeah! Way to look for teh silver lining. Thank you!
Ha! Rme about the silver lining...I watched how the younger teachers came in, and by their in the mix with every new project, boldly pushed the 4-decade veteran teachers aside.
It was quite sad really. All of the community-respected, highly skilled teachers were back-burnered for new faces jockeying for an administrative role.
Many an experienced teacher took early retirement to avoid such unskilled hubris, for lack of a better word.
Peace.
You are practically a teenager!
Omg. I hear you. I'm 47. I wake at 5 am. Even on school holidays. What the actual fuck. I WANT TO SLEEP TIL 11 GODDAMMIT. Glad it's not just me.
This really made me laugh. I guess sometimes misery does love company.
I turn 44 tomorrow so I'm a spring chicken compared to you but I know how you feel ;). Thankfully I still don't have back pain...most of the time. My eyesight is still pretty good but I have noticed that I'm having to hold things a little further away to read them. Phone of choice? Galaxy Note 9. I'm not sure they make a bigger phone screen... I do wake up early for no reason but that's relatively late compared to you at about 830am and usually my youngest is waking up by then anyway. I have to get up about an hour earlier on work days.
Enjoy every second of your back-pain-free life!
Luckily I'm mostly kidding about all of this. I know I'm pretty damn lucky.
My bones are older than Dinosaur fossil @hanshotfirst :(
Dude you are on a whole other level. I wrote this as a joke (mostly) but realize I am incredibly lucky. Learning about you and your strength to carry on in the face of challenges that would crush most people is one of my favorite things about this entire platform. I have incredible respect and admiration for you my friend!
Thank you for your kind words Sir @hanshotfirst
I am also lucky to meet people like you that really understands and have a sympathy for my situation/condition.
God bless you Sir. You are all God-given to me :)
Lol, it really does suck. Being the same age, reading this was like looking in a mirror :0D
My condolences... I'm not a handsome man.
Lol!