Sue Hess, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen!
Blogs by Sue Hess
Will you still need me, will you still feed me 8/1/2007 9:08:23 AM
When I'm sixty five....
This has been a very hectic week for me and it is not because there was a lot to do or that I was behind in what needs to be done. It is just a hectic week because I can’t seem to catch up with the week and everyone else involved in it. Do you ever have times like that, when you are one step behind everyone else and never seem to catch up?
But it’s okay. The nice thing about reaching the age I am now is that things like this gentle out of step feeling isn’t a catastrophe, it doesn’t change my life much. I’ll make it through this week and somewhere along the way, things will adjust and I’ll be on the same step as the rest of the world. I love being the age I am now. Life has become a gentle and comfortable place. I no longer have bills I can’t pay or cars that break down weekly. I eat and shop when and where I want with little thought to whether I can afford it. I’m not wealthy and will probably never be but I’m not poor. This has not always been the case. Life was harder when the kids were young, when I worked odd jobs because I hadn’t finished school and bar jobs were about all I could get. Luckily, I realized that this was not how I wanted to get old, so I went back to college and found a job that I could get old with. If I were to offer any advice to younger people, it would not be about drinking or drugs, although I could offer some there too. But what I can advise takes those things into consideration too. My best advice to you is to think about getting older. When I was in my twenties, I didn’t think I would ever get old. It didn’t seem a reality. But you will, if you are lucky and what you do to your body, to your mind and to your bank account will suddenly be very important. It may be funny to get drunk when you are young…when you are older…not so much. Drugs may be recreational to you when you are young but when you are older, they will be the difference between healthy and not so healthy and the drugs will change. It will be high blood pressure medicine and stomach remedies instead of weed and coke. The cost won’t be much different, the cost of drugs are outrageous whether you are young and they are illegal, or if you are older and they come from the pharmacy. But your ability to pay for them when you need them will depend very much on what you do now. How you plan for your future is not just an ad on TV, it is the single most important thing you can do today. Look at yourself today and then take a look at tomorrow. You can make it as comfortable or as harsh as you want. It doesn’t take much, start a small savings, a 401 or an IRA, add a little each time you get paid. It will add up much quicker than you think. Get a little exercise that doesn’t involve lifting a bottle. You’ll be happy you did someday. I’m not saying you should give up being young to insure a brighter tomorrow…you don’t have to. Just admit to yourself that it will happen and the rest will come easier…
