007: Coming of age

1 of many lakes at the Botanic Gardens

One morning while I going about my chores I passed the bathroom mirror and spotted a blood on my right eye. I went into a panic. There was no pain or discomfort, just a blotch where the blood had spread. I went for an eye checked later in the week. After going through a very thorough test they did not find anything abnormal. My blood pressure was normal too. The doctor surmised that there was a point when the blood pressure shot up that that broke 1 of the blood vessels. It would be a problem if it was repeated.

My body is starting to fail me…nooooo. Health wise I'm lucky not to have a lot of problems. People of my age, back ache, insomnia. I'm 3 years short of 50. The more serious ones are stroke, cancer. 2 of my contemporaries have passed on because of cancer. Both of them are Singaporeans.

This is the future. Not very rosy. Not bright and shining. When I see an older person, I see the future. Not the sleek architecture, not the new born baby. They try desperately to sell me this idea, but I'm not buying it. The future is when your body and mind fails you. The future is when you fight back. You start to pick a new diet. Maybe less salt. You go organic. Low cholesterol foods. You pick up jogging or a new sport maybe.

In my last trip to Singapore, out of boredom I decided to go to Botanic Gardens in the morning. I did this for week. 6am in morning I took the MRT 2 stops to the Botanic gardens. It was all dark but there people working at BG. It was the magic hour. The whole place was alive. There wasn't the scorching sun. Nor the noisy groups of family. Nor tourists. Just groups of senior citizens doing exercises with the radio on. People doing aerobics or qigong. Joggers. Maids walking the dogs. Small groups of walking mostly older people. A lot of workers sweeping the endless amount of leaves. Wow.

After an hour of walking I was dazed and confused. I'm at my limit. Google maps showed me to exit. Around 8.30am the scene changes. The groups of senior citizens done with their morning exercises, pack up and stop to have a chat. Then a steady stream of commuters, students walking to and from the exit, some with packed breakfast and others eating.

This is the senior citizen lifestyle. I was always so prejudiced against this before. I mean waking up at 6am out of your own free will. Are you out of your mind? That's what I thought. It was an eye opener. The place was the same but it was transformed.

It doesn't mean your problems would go away. But if you keep your mind open, new experiences do come your way even if you grow old.

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