one of the worst things about old age is the realization of all the inequity & suffering in this world & the utter inability to do anything about it.
although i suppose that in a very small way we could make a tiny difference.

You are not alone.

Life's accumulated baggage can be heavy, I've seen references to fictional vampires who proposed that immortality was a curse because you had to watch everyone else suffer and decay. Sometimes in my darker moments that does seem a compelling argument.

I agree that life can seem nasty, brutish and short and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Nothing can be done because nature is actually the way it is supposed to be, neither good nor bad, just as it is. We have a choice of how to look at nature, and my choice is to view it as dazzlingly mysterious and beautiful and worthy of the utmost awe and adulation.

From time to time we are brushed by the whims of fate and we suffer. Suffering is a state of mind, not bad, just necessary. IMO it is useful to develop some callouses, to become emotionally blunted to some degree. Suppose you were an EMT on an ambulance crew. You’d be face to face with traumatic events daily—same with surgeons. In order to function and do their jobs those people have to be tough emotionally.

At times when I feel stressed or traumatized, I have learned to draw support from other people. Just a simple exchange of communication seems to work wonders. And I am learning not to exacerbate painful events through the thinking of untrue thoughts about the event. It might be true that a person is suffering—it is not true that there is no future or that there’ll never be happiness again.

The ultimate misfortune is to suffer and die, but that happening is 100% certain to occur—hell, at some point the entire earth will be engulfed by the sun. The only thing that matters is the perpetuation of conscious awareness, but in ultimate reality beyond our bubble of symbols, time has no meaning, and consciousness is immortal by default.

That’s my opinion.

True have seen much as a practitioner, so sad

I attempt to learn from those like yourself. They’ve a wisdom and experience that often eludes me. Actually take cues from a neighbor; he doesn't know it, and appears to have reached both the level of understanding and discipline you have. I think it’s an awareness that comes with age..