Rebuilding Rob

Before I get into answering today’s prompt, this post is my 500th on this blog!

In order for me to answer this prompt, I guess it really depends on what you definition of living “a very long time” entails It’s been said that the first human who will live to 150 is already alive today.

As In the Star Trek franchise, it’s not unusual to run into aliens who live long lives. In the fictional Star Trek universe, Klingons live to be well over 100. Sarek, the father of Spock from the original series, died in an episode of The Next Generation at the ripe old age of 202! This says nothing about the typical “alien of the week” that the various crews encounter. Some of the are hundreds, or even thousands of years old.

The Guinness World Record for oldest human who ever lived died at 122 back in 1997. At the risk of sounding too vain, I’ve seen what happens to humans as we get older. We shrink, we lose our muscle mass. Our bones get brittle, and we begin lose our memory. On top of all that, we LOOK old. We lose our hair and our skin wrinkles; as if we no longer fit inside it. With all due respect to the elderly, I want no part of that. I’m sure that I will come to accept that as I get older. After all, I used to panic at the thought of turning 40. Now I’m 3 months away from turning 50. 

Here’s the rub for me: I don’t want to die. There’s simply too much stuff in this world that I still want to do; and one standard lifetime may not be enough to get it all in. However, I even if I didn’t have to deal with the physical and mental effects of growing old, I don’t think i would want to live forever; or even an extremely long time, for that matter.

There’s a sense of continuity that comes with our mortality. I wouldn’t want to see other people being born; living and dying all while I’m still alive. Granted, we see this today. Some people have shorter life spans that others for a multitude of reasons. But I wouldn’t want to be some kind of genetic freak, outliving all of my peers, their children and their grandchildren.

But the fact is, people ARE living longer lives. In a lot of ways. 50 really is the new 40. Kids today look at photos of my generation when were in high school and say “you guys looked so OLD then!” And it’s not just them. My generation did the same thing with people who in high school in the 70s! Life is becoming less physically demanding and humans are taking better care of themselves. 

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier related posts:

• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
• The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie

The article “Forever Young Forever” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.