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Blog archive

November 2024

Event of Remembrance
11/22/2024

Phishing Scams: What You Need to Know
11/22/2024

Pupusas Family Style: Another Adventurous Dining Winner
11/22/2024

Celebrating the Holidays
11/21/2024

Genealogy Group: Discovering Our Pasts
11/21/2024

Nathan Wolford – From Tragedy to Ministry
11/21/2024

Pasadena Village Board of Directors: A Brief Overview
11/21/2024

President's Message
11/21/2024

The Day of the Dead (Dia de muertos)/ Mexican Culture/Community
11/21/2024

Vintage Celebration: Aging Like a Fine Wine
11/21/2024

Review of Racism in Our Local Past
11/20/2024

Creative Juices Flow in The Village
11/19/2024

Checking In by Ed Rinderle
11/15/2024

Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo
11/15/2024

I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear (Sonnet IV) by Edna St. Vincent Millay
11/15/2024

Pictures From Brueghel by William Carlos Williams
11/15/2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Redefining Aging, Lessons From Life

By Blog Master
Posted: 09/01/2021
Tags:

At the Pasadena Village we describe our activities and goals as "redefining aging," the period of life that we find ourselves in now, generally described as "aging," is an unexplored terrain. We are learning about it as we experience it and learning how to deal with it successfully.  We take our lessons from all around us as we find them.

 

On the morning of Sunday, August 22nd, I watched the CBS morning show and found a rich menu of inspiration to consider. There were six episodes which I found particularly enlightening.

 

In the first episode, there was an interview with a young man who was born with no arms. He's a gold medalist in the Paralympics and competes successfully against “able bodied” archers. On the range, what sets him apart from the others is that he is seated while they are standing.  He drives an unmodified automobile, can change the tire himself, and he feeds himself at a table with no assistance. The magnitude of his challenge overwhelmed my imagination, and I could not conceive of a possibility to meet this challenge and yet he is doing it.

 

The next episode was an interview with the ninety-two year old inventor of the cell phone. The episode began with a long list of industries that we all know that would not exist without the cellphone, with Uber and Lyft in the lead. This man was an executive at Motorola who created the first mobile phone as a car phone, which many of us recall was the size of a small shoe box. In his words, this tied the phone operation to the automobile in a similar way that the landline was tied to a residence or an office. He saw a need to liberate the phone from that tether. In 1973, he demonstrated a working cellphone that could be easily carried and used free of that tether. Still active at ninety-two, he stated his belief that living means learning and being open to new experiences. That is the takeaway message that we need to get from this creative and vibrant individual. Here is an active ninety-two year old man who recognized an opportunity and changed the world and summarized the lessons he passes on perfectly.

 

The third episode of interest was an interview with a ninety-four year old woman who works every day on her own boat as a lobster fisherman in Penobscot Bay.  She is known for not missing a day of work in years and says her retirement will take place when she dies. Her only assistant on the boat is her son, who is also part of the "aging population”. I am amazed at the simple fact that the ninety-four year old woman lives such a demanding and physically active life which is an impressive illustration of what is possible.

 

Next came the story of a man who was intrigued by an abandoned mining town named Cerro Gordo. With only enough funds to put down earnest money on the property, he committed to purchase the three hundred and eighty-four acre tract that was the town. Living there all alone he has raised additional funds to rebuild the town. Promoting it on the web, he has turned it into an attraction that draws volunteers from all over to assist him. He has turned it into a tourist attraction that will bring in paying visitors to the renovated hotel. Here is a man who stepped off into the unknown and instinctively took on a challenge with no idea of how he would meet it, but he made the commitment anyway.

 

The fifth episode was a veteran returning from Afghanistan with serious wounds who has founded an organization to help other similarly affected veterans deal with their adjustments to civilian life. This man’s life and capabilities were totally changed by the injuries he sustained but without hesitation he took that as an opportunity to turnaround and engage his energies in helping others who suffered the same plight.

 

The last episode was about a neonatologist who writes and performs music where he sings about the challenges of his career that involve the certainty that he will lose patients routinely. The emotional burden of losing an infant patient and the impact that has on the family and the doctor, is a fact of his life. This man refuses to be overwhelmed by the certain failure and emotional stress that his career guarantees him, and he carries on with the important work that he does to accomplish what he can.

 

The message I take away from this morning's experience is to look around you and be open to learning from what you see. Each of these stories represented to me an illustration of someone dealing successfully with enormous challenges which puts the challenges that I encounter into a completely different perspective. As I looked at what these people have accomplished, I am struck by what they achieve because of their positive attitude and the courage they display in facing and taking on the challenges before them. I realize that if I employ similar attitudes and can muster the courage that they display, I can deal successfully with the circumstances that I encounter.

 

 

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