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by V. L. S. Jayasekera

Reaching the Biblical life-span of three scores and ten and beyond could be a night-mare for some and a haven of well earned rest for others. There is yet another category that considers their life's task incomplete at the turn into their seventies and they grab the opportunity to be aggressively involved in the affairs of man or God. Churchill, De Gaulle, Mao Ze Dung, Den Zia Peng and Sri Lanka's own J. R. Jayewardene flowered into political maturity when they passed the age at which losts of others called it a day.

Some of the writers, literary giants, men of art and music moved into their seventies and beyond honing their talents and acquired skills ad propelling them to dizzy heights of achievement. But for most of us entering into seventies and beyond would be an entry into a bottomless chasm of sickness, pain, loneliness and an unfathomable void.

Old age pushes yesterday to yester-year and later to a decade and beyond, the experience of the past is distorted as if the view is blurred by a prism viewed through the wrong end of a telescope. The misty past envisions exaggerated sorrows wiping out any mirth of a youthful era. Prince Siddartha Gauthama had a fenced in childhood and youth to the exclusion of the experience of the reality of aging, sickness and death. When he did actually see and experience these miseries of the world, it spurred him towards goals of understanding and seeking remedies for the sorrows of the world. grace

Aging in grace eludes many. To defy aging and push it back are not within the reach of all. In contrast with the ability of some to extend their youthfulness into old age, there are others with hunched backs, glazed eyes blank and void, with trickles of spittle in the corners of the mouth, disease and strokes, immobility and minds that function no more - robbing them of the past and the future as well. They are living vegetable. What makes all the difference? According to James Fozard of the National Institute of Aging "Explanation of the complexities of our own experience of aging is a long way off".

Studies so far carried out reveal that a great part of the adverse effects of aging is the result of disease and unhealthy lifestyles.

Thinning hair, graying and balding, loss of hearing, wrinkles and sagging skin, loss of memory and slowing down to reflex actions drying up of memory centers, impairing of smell and taste, clouding of vision and permanent impairment of eye sight through atrophying of optical nerves, loss of efficiency of lungs would be some of the allied ailments.

Thickening of arteries bringing about an increase in blood pressure leading to heart attacks and strokes, decay of bone cells leading to osteoporosis and muscles wasting away and becoming ineffective and the heart is unable to cope with the added burdens and is fighting a losing battle to keep on pumping blood though ineffectively are other ailments. There is total debility and decay leading to one type of complication or another and death is sometimes considered a relief.

In the midst of this array of enemies attacking the human body into old age some are capable of holding the aging process at bay effectively and are able to age gracefully. It is difficult to get anything out of old age unless one has a fairly satisfactory state of health.

Accompanied by good health aging is not devoid of its blessings. There is an aurora of acquired wisdom and a greater sense of confidence regardless of social standing. The aged are bolder in interacting with others and that with a mature and gentle finesse born of experience. Shyness is gone. You don't do anything that you don't want to do.

The myriad pains of youth appear trivial and a touch of philosophical bearing cushions the hurt feeling generated by what you now consider to be unimportant. If you are hurt something in you absorbs it without the hurt corroding you. Envy, hatred and malice have no room in you. You look back at the past more than planning for the future as the future is so uncertain and only the past is there to remember and play within your solitary mind.

With old age one invariably jettisons the extra frills of life and cling only to bare necessities - of course in some , avariciousness increases with advancing years. These are exceptions. Like Socrates in the market place examining myriad were he would say "I don't need that" and "Idon't need that either" and at the end of the marketing spree he would be back home with the same empty bag that he carried. The hunger for possessions fades away and one is left with a feeling of lightness.

Grandchildren rejuvenate grandparents. Grandfathers love to make fools of themselves with the off-springs of their children. Decorum and dignity expected in old age are forgotten and children in any event are capable of deflating any old gas-bag with mirth and good grace. Children command and bestow love and affection for no reward.

They will make you sing, write love letters with lots of xxxxx at the end and turn you into an artist and a poet. They will make you read to them, would want you to lull them to sleep and command you to dress up Barbie dolls for them! To some extent aging is neutralized by these lovable obligations. Care of pets and service to others have similar neutralizing effects on the aging process.

Throughout the ages man has looked for and never succeeded in pushing back the aging process. However the last two millennia have seen the average life expectancy span go up steeply. Romans lived to an average of 22 years. Other than in the most underdeveloped parts of the world life expectancy has risen to an average of over 70 and with a very high average for Japan - 80 years! This trend has been caused by higher living standards and vast strides made in medical care.

The quest for the "fountain of youth" has gone on; King David of Biblical times had himself warmed by a young virgin. That gold consumed in the daily diet was another method adopted to lengthen the lifespan. In Roman history, at least in one known instance, gold - the panacea for aging - was to play a more sinister role.

Marcus Licinius Crassus eying military glory, put together his own army and with the approval of Julius Caesar marched to Syria in 53 B.C. There he was defeated in battle. The Syrians realizing that they had the most powerful man next to Caesar, poured molten gold lave down his throat. At least in this instance gold failed to do what was expected of it - arrest the aging process. Our own custom of ceremonially mixing gold into a dash of milk and letting the infant taste it, may be a remnant of the trust in the miracles brought about by this precious metal.

Tested

There are tested ways that help to keep aging at bay. EAT LESS. Reducing the calorie intake keeps the body ship-shape and degeneration of the body is slowed. A stronger immune system appears to take over and ailments associated with aging are greatly reduced. Even though hunger and calorie intake are opposed factors, yet a fine balance can do wonders in the direction of higher life expectancy. A man's figure is a cardiograph of his food habits. Any food abuse is written all over him. This truth applies in a bigger way to women.

The God given figure so attractive in youth, is transformed into a veritable death shell - off shape and ugly. Some men in the service of religion carry tell-tale marks that they did not strike the desirable balance between hunger and the insatiable desire for food. It is however gratifying to note that holy persons of living memory - Mahatma Gandhi, Krishnamurthi, Anagarika Dharmapala and Mother Theresa - they stand out to show that hunger in them was quenched but gluttony was avoided. Soldiers - Rommel and Montgomery were fighting machines even in their bodies. Principled living and gluttony are never good bed-bellows. One has got to be abstemious - to be sparing in one's taking of food and drink and not be over indulgent.

Regular sleep habits would be another factor that assist the repair and conditioning of the body for long levity.

Exercise - keeps the human body fighting fit. Initiated into exercise even a ninety year old person can reverse the impact of aging and regain vitality of a person of sixty. Poorly managed nutrition and inactivity trigger faster aging.

Exercise induces anti - aging mechanisms. The adage "Use it or lose it" would be the apt logical cliche. Exercise and its use would apply to the mind as well. Reading, learning and interacting healthily with fellow beings help to sharpen the memory and exercise the mind to be for ever alert and active.

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