Has Age Made You Braver?

I don't think I am anymore less or more brave than when I was a youth or in my 20's. I Bungy Jumped 200+ feet on my 65th birthday, white water rafted & open sea kyacked, scuba dived, hot air ballooned,zip lined, and more, all in my 60's & 70's. I couldn't afford those activities in my youth. Now at age 81 my biggest risk is walking across the street to the market.
 

I was all ways very brave (foolhardy?). Thinking back, wonder how I survived. Even though I had my first motorcycle ride at the age of 78....now my physical limitations prevent me from doing the things that fear would not.
 
I'm more blunt. This began as I pulled myself from the emotional wreckage of a family generated tragedy in my early thirties. I've become more intolerant of facades and games people play. Now, sometimes that bluntness causes me more trouble than it's worth. So now I'm trying to find balance. But there is that saying about the cat being out of the bag. Having been a cat, I don't like bags. :playful:

Physically I have more common sense. I realize that things can happen to me.
 

Ralphy1 said:
One out three will develop some form of dementia. I have two sisters with it and I am very thankful that I missed it; I can still enjoy some aspects of living with my health issues...
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I don't believe in statistics that are based on things that haven't even happened yet. To say one in three in this town developed some form of dementia is measurable, but to say one in three WILL develop it is just negative thinking and I won't go there. No one can predict the future, so why be miserable listening to those who think they can?

I'm glad it missed you!

As to the original thread theme of bravery and age, I thought about this a couple of hours ago, when looking under a friend's hood to see if I could find the source of her car's noise. It's a full-size sedan, with a heavy hood, and as I felt for the hood release I thought a lot about getting my fingers stuck, or, if I were able to lift the hood, it crashing back down on me. I never worried about stuff like that before. Of course, my cars all had prop rods for their hoods, but none of the cars I grew up with did, they didn't even have hood releases inside the car. I don't worry these days about someone popping my hood and stealing the battery or sabotaging the engine, but today I found myself worrying about getting my fingers stuck or crushed.

But I didn't let it stop me from lifting the hood and finding the source of the noise.

Now, reckless is going shopping with one of the two neighbors who will drive me places but is just as apt to have been drinking as smoking when she gets behind the wheel, or tailgating the car of some driver she believes has cut her off or been otherwise rude. She is otherwise a good driver and has never had a wreck; she is more likely to get pulled over for a breathalyzer than to be in a wreck. If I know she's been drinking before I get in the car with her, I don't. But if I find out after the fact, I go ahead and hope we'll get home safe, because I can't afford to be stranded away from home and have to depend on undependable Uber to "rescue" me.

So that's not bravery, it's recklessness. Doing what I have to, to get by.
 
With age I've become even more paranoid than before.
Daughters call my place "the fortress"!
Why, I ask myself when wandering about the place some days in total darkness--dementia lurking just outside the door, waiting to get in? :boo:
 
"If a problem has a solution, why worry about it? If a problem has no solution, why worry about it? If you can't fight and you can't flee, flow." I forget who said that, but it's something I remind myself of when I'm worrying about something over and over again.
 
That's what I often think about my boy dog. Can you imagine being confident enough to know that any foe you could take down. Anything else if you can't play with it, eat it, or pee on it...then hey no problem...ignore it...you know he sleeps soundly.
 
ndynt said:
I was all ways very brave (foolhardy?). Thinking back, wonder how I survived. Even though I had my first motorcycle ride at the age of 78....now my physical limitations prevent me from doing the things that fear would not.
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Oh Nona! Who would have guessed! Not for me, but I admire you immensely. :laugh:
 

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