Inevitable realities of getting old

Regardless of whether or not you believe in them fortune tellers and soothsayers don’t necessarily have all the answers in terms of what the future holds for you. If you ask them they will probably talk about glamorous destinations, tempestuous love affairs and financial windfalls, they won’t tell you about the realities of old age and the less than glamorous things that await you as you approach old age and the inevitable end of your life. But there are certain things which although not often spoken about by younger people are almost certain to be a part of your future as you move past retirement and onwards towards your dotage. Here is our list of a few things that we see in your future and which are almost completely unavoidable.

Your home as a pharmacy

The older you get the more likely your home is to resemble a pharmacy or a medical institution. You will go from being a youngster who never needs to take medication to an old person who needs a whole range of chronic medication for things like arthritis, cholesterol, blood pressure or any other of a number of complaints. You bathroom might also start to look different complete as it will be with a range of hospital equipment that will increasingly become a part of your life. Be it a wheel chair or a plastic stool to sit on while you shower, these are the types of things that will increasingly become a part of your reality.

Daytime television

As you get older television will go from being something that you watched for entertainment on evenings when you were not out with friends, to a staple of your daily life. But more specifically it will go from being a nocturnal activity to something that can dominate your day. As age shrinks your world, a sad yet inevitable truth, so the vacuum that it leaves will be filled with television. And while you might like to think it will be sport that you are watching – think Test match cricket – the truth is that it will be soap operas and talk shows.

Peculiar discussions

Young people never think they will end their lives talking about things like the weather, bowel movements and distant relatives, but for many this is the sad reality of aging. The reality is that what is important to you changes as you get older, and where you once had a focus on the outside world as you get older it is the little things that affect your day-to-day comfort that become the biggest and most important issues. And if you stay in a retirement complex then you will be surrounded by people with similar concerns and the conversations will naturally follow.

Loss of Independence

The older you get the more dependent you will be on other people. It is a sad but inevitable fact of getting old. You will slowly find that you get out less, you stop travelling, that you are less able to shop or cook for yourself and that it comes down to family of healthcare professionals to look out for you. It is not a nice thought, but it is an inevitable reality from which there is no escaping.