Should I Be Fearful Of Turning Thirty?

So here I am the last week of my twenties and the big 3 0 is steadily approaching.  Should I be fearful of the big number? The past month a realization passed over me concerning aging. I took a class to become a certified nursing assistant and in the process had to spend two days working in a nursing home. Reality struck me hard as I witnessed firsthand what really can happen with old age. Many of the residents there needed help with many things that we take for granted every single day. Just getting up out of bed is a hard task for many. During lunch I had to help feed those who were incapable of doing it themselves. Many had loss of mental function and were hard to communicate with. My instructor had told us something that stuck with me throughout my two day clinical and that was that many of old age return to infancy. Life is like a wheel for many of those who reach old age. Your body deteriorates and returns to how it once was as a baby. When she told us this it made me think of my two grandpas’s who were both affected by illness’s that affected the way they live and which ultimately took them to heaven. One had Alzheimer’s the other had a stroke, but this time for some reason it really struck home for me even more. Now I was in a facility where many of the residents were this way. It was a bit overwhelming at times. It made me think about my life and my age. Being there reminded me that it is important for me to take care of my health and mind. I know if I do then maybe I can prevent that wheel from turning back. There’s much more education now than back fifty years ago about healthy eating and illness prevention. I feel if I commit to being well then maybe I can prevent the body from deteriorating as rapidly as it may.

When my day of thirty arrives I will be thankful for the thirty years I have been healthy and all the treasures life has given me; two beautiful children, good friends and experiences and much more. I will be praying for another healthy thirty years or more. Since I was a child I said it was my goal to live to one hundred well if I do I would want it to be with good mental health and still be able to get around alright. Maybe when I’m one hundred I’ll be writing an article entitled “Should I fear the age of 100?” Until then I will soak life up and be thankful for it no matter my age.