WHY WE AGE

15th September 2016, I slouched in my chair as I watched my grandfather writhe in pain on a mat in his room, unable to move his head and legs without a click being heard. As old as He was, his vision failed him that he had to hear a voice before he recognized anyone who entered his room; eyes that could cleave ripe cocoa pods at a glance. He looked so frail with rife wrinkles that marked his advanced age. His face wrinkled even more with any smile he tried.
He coughed incessantly with deep rales resounding from his chest that he had to expectorate after every minute before the coughing ceased. He still had his pleasant wit and good humour even when his memory kept deteriorating gradually. They say as you get older, your secrets are safe with your friends, because they usually can’t remember them. Grandpa’s memory was not so bad for his age.
I went back in time to remember the hugs and blessings he showered on me anytime he visited, to the giggling darts I engaged in anytime I was caught playing Space Impact on his Nokia 3310. God bless you Grandpa! It is my prayer God grants you the strength to endure this span of senility.
Grandma’s was next, the visible signs of aging were so remarkable; the wrinkles advanced with each passing second. She kept substituting our names that she had to be reminded each time before our eardrums clicked with the reverberation of our names. Hair that was totally black a decade ago, greyed with the breeze of air, however her good cooking did not grow dim. The first thing she made me aware every time was her blood pressure before any welcome was offered, to which I always responded to with a ‘thumbs up’ and a smile. I remember how she cached every coin of hers in a knot she made with her cloth. The proverbial tongue-lashings I got anytime I did something wrong nursed me in the right way.
I then ask myself, why do we age at all?
When it comes to aging and aging right, most of us already know what we need to do: eat right, get a good night sleep and adequate rest, keep a positive mind set and exercise. But do we know the number of years we have until we leave this world?
The reason why we age and why some people age faster than others still remains a mystery. Possibly an interaction between our genes and the environment but I fail to comprehend why some babies in spite of how young they are still look like grandparents when born. From the deep forehead creases they display to the wrinkled skin and apprehensive faces they yield.
Feeling old my Dad would say is a state of mind when he takes that hour walk on a Saturday morning in his boots after sweating heavily. I have realized people improve with age; we grow in value and become useful to the world in the daily grinds done, to helping humanity by smiling and being friendly.
Aging does not have to be a dreadful thing. Youth may have desirable traits but age has experience and wisdom. As the number of birthdays we celebrate increase in number we begin to understand life by visualizing the world through a wider aperture. The world has never been, and probably will never be perfect but we can effect the little change we can in any possible way; “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world”. Making others happy rewards us in unimaginable ways.
This then is what pleases God, not the outer beauty but the inner beauty of the soul. The beautiful hearts some people have is just amazing! It is important to generate a good attitude and a good heart because people assess the true value of a person by the condition of the heart.
It’s my prayer He fills me with the peace to age gracefully… to accept myself for who I am, the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I can. Take the time every day to be grateful, thankful for everything that you have, you can always have more but you could also have had less.
Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honour their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity, what that is, is aging.” – Maya Angelou
God bless you!

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