Panda Picks-Seniors Work on the Net!

I recently found a blog discussion on the Moken people  where I learned about a  primitive culture, who have no  word  for time. Their nomad life style is based on no time to be anywhere and no time lines to meet. What a concept for retirees. Someone comes to visit you wouldn’t shoo them off nor would we schedule activites for particular day. The culture is well  documented in books by Jacques Ivanoff.
A recent documentary about the Moken “sea gypsies” aired on 60 minutes pointed out that they also do not have a word for” when”. Without words for” time” and “when” the Moken would have no concept of age. That too is an interesting concept for us to consider. Unencumbered by thoughts of aging and how long we have to spend with our children/grandchildren or what is the life expectancy of our situation how would we live?  Would we watch less stock market reports, accumulate more wealth, collect things for the future, put off fun things to do? The list is endless once we put aside “when”; when I ……..then I will do XXXX.

How old would you be if you did not know your age? Would you still be working because you enjoyed it or did you retire because that was expected of you?  I know people who are still working at 70 or 90 because they do not let age dictate their working activities.

 Do we accept dementia because it is affecting someone 85? I know people older than that who just graduated from college, writting books, creating great works etc. Dementia is not a part of aging as are many other ailments we accept as common to aging.  They are illness common to aging. Should we allow age to affect our acceptance of physical and mental decline?

It seems that those not concerned with age send messages to their body that they want to continue being active. If we constantly remind ourselves that we should not do certain things because of our age, we have sent messages of discouragement that keep us from seeking  desires. Joe Paterno, age 81, Penn State football coach  of 50 years is a good example of allowing interests to dictate our lifestyle rather  than allowing age to slow us down.

Does your cronological age dictate your actions? Would you like to start a new career? How about enrolling in a college course? What would you do if you did not have “when” or “time” in your vocabulary like the Moken? Can we stop time if we don’t allow time to stop us?

Panda picked  the subject of timelessness so that we are not controlled by a birthcertificate or held back  by time.  May we remember memories of the past but keep on building new memories.

Panda Lady