Last night I was reading my Money magazine (Sept 2008 edition) and in it was an article called “Are you ready to live a century?”
According to this article scientist say hitting 100 yrs old is a possiblity, the author of the article though questions why anyone would want to live to be 100, and then goes on to state that the three main reasons are:
– Losing ones health
– Losing ones mentality ability
– Running out of money
With running out of money being one of the biggest concerns, at least for her.
So I got to wondering if anyone would want to live to be 100. With all the medical advancements now a days, one can live longer than they would have say 50 or even 20 yrs ago.
I personally wouldn’t want to live this long, along with the above 3 items the author had mentioned there is one other reason at least for me – Changes in the world. Crime rates have increased, poverty levels have increased, unemployments rates have increased, population increase, etc… Now I’m not saying all is bad as that just isn’t true, but I do miss the days when I was a child and didn’t have to worry if my own child will be kidnapped from their bedroom as I do now, I miss the days when for the most part if you picked up a hitch hiker you were doing something good, I miss the days when folks pulled more together and didn’t expect something to be in it for them, I miss the days when you could actually leave your door unlock while at home, I miss a lot of things, but change is a part of life – some good, some bad.
But all the same that is one of my tops for not wanting to live to be 100, I don’t want to even think now of how the world will be when I’m 75 much less 100. It scares the heck out of me.
Second on my list for not wishing to be 100 is health. Sure there are a lot of advancements, but for some the quality of life they are living, isn’t really living – it’s merely existing. If that is how my life will be extended, no thank you. I want to enjoy life and live life, not merely exist.
Third on my list for not wishing to be 100 is money. It’s hard enough trying to save some times to get through the next month, much less until I’m 100. And even if I did manage to save enough, if my health goes south, so does the money I managed to save.
I’m sure there are other reason folks may not wish to live to be 100, and still other reasons folks might wish to live to be 100.
For me though I’ll pass on living to be 100 that’s just too long.
So how about everyone else? Would you want to live to be 100?
-Tammy 🙂