Getting Into the Swim of Things

It’s human nature to hold onto the familiar, the tried & true.  My guess is this inkling, this instinct, may become more entrenched the older you get, especially when you’re really up there in years.  So many things have been taken away from folks in advanced years, anything that feels familiar, a constant from years past. becomes triply precious.

Which is a challenge, because the reason “ancients” (to use Mom’s phrase for her 90+-year old self) are here is to BE different from the person they were, not to cling to that long-familiar other.

To an “older” (my term for grannie clients), a sense of that familiar self might FEEL like a life preserver, but it keeps them in place that goes nowhere.  Whether they like it or not, they've moved past where they were.  They need to get into the swim of the here & now.

Alas, most olders seem to feel that the here & now is a place of uncertainty.  Understandable.  I rarely come across an older who confides in me, “Hot diggity dog!  I’m 80+ years old, with plenty to live & learn!”

I’m more likely to hear, “Why am I still here?”, “I hate being a drag on my children,” “I’m supposed to be taking care of them.”  

I especially hear that last.  

Makes sense.  Modern medicine has done wonders helping us extend our lives, but precious little at how to expand those upper reach of years.  And unless they are expanded, those extended years can feel hollow, or worse.