meditation and self belief

There comes a time when the invitations to parties say "70 not out" and "80 and still going" and when you go to them, you see your companions in life have grey hair, less hair, have changed shape a bit, sometimes have stick like legs and sometimes are rounded out a bit.  The thing is that you can't see  your own self, it is part of the big illusion; you may see mirror images or photographs but you can't walk round your person and view yourself from every side, you just don't know what you are really like to meet.  You hope that you are nice enough but suspect (still at that advanced age) that you aren't really up to the mark.  However you get over that and spot the people you think you know, or maybe a lost soul that doesn't appear to know anyone and you set about recalling theirs and your life stories, their apparent identities.  We just daren't think that none of us will be here that much longer! even if we or they have been ill.  We cling on to some idea of reality through our children, grandchildren, our woes and joys, changes of house (bungalows and downstairs bedrooms loos).  We really think we will outlast everyone and we still plan forwards.  The changing nature of the world, the people in it and us is something to meditate on( especially if we aspire to meditate as a practice for detachment) because the real life we seek must be different to this.  Really we should probably think each time we meet a friend or actually anybody, that this might be the last time we meet here and we should make certain that we value both the being of them and the real being that we can't see.