Aging is such a wild thing, and aging after 50 has been one of the most ambiguous factors in my life, which has ranged from some of the deepest lows to exceptional contentment and unpredictable seismic shifts in thoughts, perceptions, and overall views of life, family, and loved ones.
I don't think in our culture, American society simply does not prepare humans for progressing through life in the best ways possible, especially when it comes to aging.
Simply put, in this fucking country, aging is not for the soft at heart, that is for sure.
Just a few minutes ago, I was struck by how aging in life can be illustrated as if it were symbolized by a capital "H" with the center joining bar being a pivot point for both rails. When we are born, the rails at the bottom are touching, with the upper ends spread out similar to that of an upright "Greater than sign."
As life moves forward, the rails at the top then slowly move inward, moving closer and closer to being parallel, and then, as life continues, the two ends that were once wide at the top, become closer together, until at the top they touch, indicating the end of life.
Af the start of life, the wide gap at the top indicates all of the things to come in life, most of the things we will not know until they happen. To the rear, or bottom rails, where the tracks once touched, indicating birth, now start inching apart to indicate the growing past, including our memories, experiences, and those things that happened to us.
As time for the aging goes by, the top rails move closer and closer to when they will eventually touch, while the bottoms widen, indicating so much is behind us, while the future is narrowing and there is little we can to do stop this process - we can try hard to slow it, but it will never cease.
One thing about American culture that sits poorly with me is how our culture truly seems oblivious to the phrase that nothing good comes from not learning from the past. My point being, so many Americans go through these very similar things that I have been dealing with - just like the awkward teen years - and we never adequately share solutions or coping skills for these things with the upcoming generations or do things to try and lessen their negative impact.
