Decay

I remember hearing as a teenager “everything, left to itself, tends to decay.”  I think I was a teenager at the time, but I do know that it was last century.  It has stuck with me anyway.  In looking it up, it may be a summary of the 2nd law of thermodynamics.  Whatever it is, I have seen nothing that disproves it as yet.
It is probably why, despite my best efforts, the house always needs to be dusted.  It could be why, ancient ruins seem to be always overgrown.  If the place was not bombed to smithereens, then the passage of time seems to claim it.  Whatever is new and pristine, will end up past its use by date.
For some things, mankind does all that is possible to ensure something lasts a long time, but eventually all needs replacing.  Buildings, roads, cars, all require extensive upkeep to keep them viable.  One day though, it is declared, enough is enough and new replaces old.  Of course, some stuff is built not to last, so we need to replace it.   It has happened to me on more than one occasion that a warranty on an item runs out, just before the item expires.
The romans built roads to last.  They can still be seen today.  They were thick and solid.  I had a neighbour who was building roads.  He said these days it all depended on the thickness of the bitumen.  Country roads tended to have a thin layer.  Roads used more regularly, had thicker bitumen applied.  Of course shortcuts can be and are sometimes used.  I mean, once the bitumen is down who knows?  It seems auditors are needed for more than financial matters.
The human body decays.  I would prefer it did not, but it does.  I do all I can for it not to happen.  A woman seen as young and beautiful today, will one day be seen as too old.  Life expectancy has increased.  It seems to me though, it is delaying the inevitable.  Although life expectancy has increased, I am not sure about the quality of life.
Living forever seems to be the goal and the dream. We can sure benefit from the research, but it seems living in this human body forever, will always remain a dream.   NASA’s goal was to reach the moon.  They achieved it, but we benefited from a lot of the technology that was developed to solve problems.  It seems a lot of technology has benefits that are unintended.
Decay seems to be inevitable.  I do not believe however that needs to be the story for what happens on the inside of me.  I have plans, aspirations, and dreams that I cannot accept are doomed to failure.  It does not matter how old I get, I can grow.  Sure I may be older than I was, and things may come slower, but the important thing to me is they come.
I need to build.  Preferably what I contribute will last.  A legacy I think they call it. Some legacies last a long time (roman roads, calculators) while others are a flash in the pan (built in redundancy).  What I want to build, is something that is useful both now and later, and will last a lifetime and beyond.