[Come summer heat, much of my blogging momentum melts away. Hence an experiment until Labor Day: fifty minimalist posts about whatever.]
When I was younger, I used to think when something didn’t work out with a husband, lover, friend, job, I could move on after a suitable period of regret, and start again.
That seemed to work for a while. Then it began not to. You can’t really clean the slate. We drag our histories with us wherever we go, and not only on our professional CVs. (Those can be doctored, but only so far). We’re just not brand new any more. Our emotional resumes color our responses to what comes next. Unsuccessful past experiences may engender mistrust, disbelief, self-doubt.
Later, when we’re older still, another problem unforeseen by the young arises. New opportunities become rarer. Is there (artfully masked) age discrimination in the workplace? You better believe it. Available new partners/lovers/friends? Fewer and farther between. If you’re still searching out a different resting place for your mind, heart or body, you can find yourself more and more sidelined.
Finally you see there’s some merit in the old saying, “Make it do, use it up, wear it out.” It’s not just about a penny saved is a penny earned. Too bad it takes some of us so long to realize it.
ON BEING OLD 
Ah, so true. I would add: As we get older our margin of error shrinks. This is true when changing jobs, changing significant others, choosing houses and apartments. As we get older, it becomes ever more difficult to pick up and move on. The consequences of a bad choice loom large. In the Darwinian job market, one misstep can be fatal to your career and your finances.
Also, I think, like the number of pitches in a pitcher’s arm, most of us are allotted only so many failures.
Regarding age discrimination: Few managers and corporations bother to artfully mask it these days.
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Also we run out of energy to keep at it. Or perhaps that’s what you mean by our “allotment of failures.” Thoughtful reply, John. Thanks.
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So true, Nina… many of us with ‘high standards’, find ourselves isolated after a while… and then there’s that question again… just how far are we willing to compromise. Sometimes, it’s not in us. I don’t watch TV anymore, nor movies either. Once I liked movies. Now I don’t have the patience. Even if we miss the company (after many friends have passed away), are we really built to enjoy the company of fools? It’s an open question. I don’t know the answer myself.
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I suppose the young might say we’re aging out of life when we get to this point, Shimon. It might be easier if we lived in cultures that valued age differently. But aren’t we fortunate to be able at least to find “virtual” company! Thirty years ago that just wasn’t possible.
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So true and very thoughtful. The comments were on target too. I wouldn’t or couldn’t have understood this. Unfortunately I do now.
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We all three thank you. Re: the rest of your comment, I guess that’s why there aren’t too many young TGOB readers.
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