Guest guest Posted August 21, 2001 Report Share Posted August 21, 2001 Compas, The recent postings about caring for the elderly, particularly the well and sensitively identified issues of Bob Semans, have provoked in me the following somewhat unsettling thoughts. The Sunday San Francisco Chronicle had a picture of an elderly sea otter in the Monterey Aquarium. The article noted that the sea otter was undergoing various painful situations due to aging, whereas before it was protected it would have simply been eaten when it was no longer able to fend for itself. Is perhaps our protection of that otter misplaced compassion? Are we really protecting ourselves more than the otter? Protecting ourselves from a full frontal view of the brutal side of life? In lengthening the human lifespan, are we perhaps motivated not only by compassion but also by an unseemly greed for life, as if it were a commodity, the bigger (lengthier) the better? Are we also creating a growing society of dependency that will eventually become more than society can economically and emotionally cope with? Although I do not have any answers to these questions, I do not believe they are unanswerable. However, I strongly suspect the answers will be found in what John Lounibos wittily called self-spelunking. In looking forward to tomorrow, how much do we borrow from today? What do we want from our aging lives? What help do we demand of others? Until we answer these questions for ourselves, any help we offer others would seem to be limited at best, misplaced at worst. A limited best to all, Gary Gary Schouborg Performance Consulting Walnut Creek, CA garyscho Publications and professional services: http://home.att.net/~garyscho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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