Shocked by aging process

You inspired me, @hudsonlady! But I do think it's crucial for one's sense of well-being to look long and hard at all of life's adversities, sticking with the job until you can see opportunity, and not setback. I know for many of us that's easier said than done. Nonetheless, I believe the effort is ultimately worthwhile. I can think of a silly paraphrase: If life gives you chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy in the form of lemons, see if you can make your chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy into lemonade. 🙂 Here's wishing you a wonderful day, @hudsonlady! –Ray (@ray666)

In my mid 70s on my last annual visit to the dermatologist she commented I have nice skin. Most days I make a smoothie and add a small scoop of collagen powder.

@hudsonlady
As Winston Churchill has been quoted to say, “ if you think your going through hell, keep going”.

@grandmira At least I have plenty of friends to visit there!

We are not dirty old men. With age the executive censoring parts of our brains go downhill, allowing our teenage lusts and behavior, from the brain stem and limbic system, to emerge. This looks terrible on an old guy. Inappropriate and eventually a civil or criminal assault.
This censoring loss may also help exlpain the other infantile behaviors in dementia. No one is at the control panel.
The oogling, comments, and especially touching may be a regression to the comfort of the Mother Imago.
No excuses. Shut up. Keep your eyes and hands to yourself. Women do not have to be surprised by this (unacceptable) behavior, but can watch for the signs, anticipate, and avoid.
I get hit on too often by old women, let's call it what it is, so I guess it works in both directions. At least I know how uncomfortable/revolting it is to have unwanted advances, especially physical. (Almosr lost my job because of a woman boss to whom I would not cave in. Talk about sex discrimination. Another at work was always commenting on my clothing) . This s--- is not flattery.

@shmerdloff
?

@ray666 Dear Ray, An absolutely FANTASTIC answer ! Thank you. We are NEVER too old to learn, we are NEVER too old TO START OVER, and sometimes...starting over with a clean canvas is just plum fun! Thank you Dear Sir.

Good morning, @dianestjohn. "Plum fun"––I love that! But that's it, isn't it? As we get older and find ourselves beset by all sorts of gnarly diseases, life can so easily become un-plum fun. Some here know that I've been working on a longish essay with the working title "Factory Reset," about the morning I discovered that my computer's hard drive had been wiped clean. After I got over the usual 10 or 20 minutes of OMG! I decided I'd rebuild my life from scratch. I took the wiping-clean of my hard drive as an opportunity to make a few midsummer New Year's Eve resolutions. And that's what I'm doing. There are things I can't undo. My age, for one. My neuropathy, for another. But there's a whale of a lot I can change! If I may borrow your expresion, @dianestjohn, my No. 1 job these days is to make my life (insofar as I can) plum fun! –Best wishes, Ray (@ray666)

Good morning again Ray,
I am going to disagree with you. However, that being said, I may have not
made my statement "plum fun" clear. What I am saying is...life moves on
and we need to move with it. Now, we can sit and sulk( trust me I have) or
we can move forward...with a clear slate which often can be interpreted as
"plum fun".
Possibly, we take malfunctions in life too seriously. Either way, I wish
you all the best, and have a great day. Diane

Aging is an “odd” thing. Get up on a Monday everything is terrific, lots of energy etc. Get up the following Monday it might be a whole lot different experience, aches that seem to crop up out of nowhere. I was doing an exercise that my physiotherapist said was good, it bothered my shoulder ie rotator cuff that I have to go and do the exercises that I had done for the other shoulder. Oh the fun, however I do count my blessings, I know the fellow in the mirror and the wife can still speak of me in good terms, what have I got to complain about?