Be in service to someone or something without expecting anything in return.
For me it is my dog.
Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
31–40 of 312 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#32Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#33I think growing old in 1900 is diff from growing old in 2020. I don’t think these are experiences that translate well over time and place. ‘What advice would I give my younger self’ also doesn’t compute. Because that would mean that I would end up with entirely different life experience and the person giving the advice would not exist as they would have changed. In sci fi, this would be the classic causal loop/tempor…
It is called a thought experiment[0]. It's useful because it doesn't have to create such a time paradox because the thing only happens in your head. It's pretty powerful to help people think outside the box.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#34Losing weight or gaining muscle mass gets harder and harder as you age so the older you get so its important to keep a diet and exercise routine that keeps you at a good condition cause letting go makes things go bad much quicker and takes way more effort to get back in shape.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#35Physically, my best advice is to take good care of your back and your teeth. These 2 things can make a huge quality of life difference once you are past 40. I would also add your eyes, but there is not a lot you can do about that one! Almost everyone needs reading glasses by 40. Glasses suck, but you get used to it. Psychologically, the best I can say is to forgive yourself for any stupid things you did when you were…
darn im not very kind to others
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#36I've posted about this many times here and so have a lot of other people: If you're suffering from any chronic aches or pains especially back pain or RSI it may be TMS (though only a doctor can tell you that but you need to be informed). The internet and medical community is full of misinformed people who will fill your head about how a pinched nerve or a slipped disc can cause you immense pain and some doctor may ev…
What does TMS stand for?
It stands for tension myositis syndrome. This is a good introduction to it (1)
(1) https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/An_Introduction_to_Tension_Myosi...
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#37This is not my advice - I'm 26 - but was given to me at school by a now-retired teacher I greatly respect. It sounds quite wise, and I trust the source. I paraphrase: "Learn to classify people into three categories: givers, sharers, and takers. Surround yourself with givers. Sharers are also acceptable. Cut out the takers as quickly as you can." A verbatim follow-on quote: "Takers make a beeline for givers. The needy…
This I'm sure resonates with a lot of people, but unfortunately it's sometimes hard to cut out the takers: when they're part of your close friend circle or worse, your family.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#38When I was younger, I could skip most of the homework because I learned enough during class. The mandatory assignments were sometimes finished quickly just before I had to turn them in. I didn't get the necessary practice and discipline to do independent work unless I did it for fun. This had to be learned the hard way when I grew older.
I had a similar experience.
Please don't praise kids for being "smart", teach them that putting real effort into something will pay off.
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#391, people don't feel old mentally, they feel like a young person trapped in an old persons body 2, time goes by way faster than you think, blink and you'll quite literally miss decades of your life advice? don't ever put off until tomorrow what you can do today, the old you is depending on the you now to look out for him/her.
"Bomanz let his thoughts drift. The truth was elusive. Stance would not remember the good years. “I guess because people change and we don’t want them to.” He could find no better words. “You start out with a woman; she’s magical and mysterious and marvelous, the way they always sing it. Then you get to know each other. The excitement goes away. It gets comfortable. Then even that fades. She starts to sag and turn grey and get lined and you feel cheated. You remember the fey, shy one you met and talked with till her father threatened to plant a boot in your ass. You resent this stranger. So you take a poke. I guess it’s the same for your mother.
Inside, I’m still twenty, Stance. Only if I pass a mirror, or if my body won’t do what I want, do I realize that I’m an old man. I don’t see the potbelly and the varicose veins and the grey hair where I’ve got any left. She has to live with it.”
“Every time I see a mirror I’m amazed. I end up wondering who’s taken over the outside of me. A disgusting old goat, from the look of him. The kind I used to snicker at when I was twenty. He scares me, Stance. He looks like a dying man. I’m trapped inside him, and I’m not ready to go.”
Re: Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people?
#40I've posted about this many times here and so have a lot of other people: If you're suffering from any chronic aches or pains especially back pain or RSI it may be TMS (though only a doctor can tell you that but you need to be informed). The internet and medical community is full of misinformed people who will fill your head about how a pinched nerve or a slipped disc can cause you immense pain and some doctor may ev…
What does TMS stand for?
According to the website in their comment it apparently stands for "Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS)" (https://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/An_Introduction_to_Tension_Myosi...)