Is aging a gift?
I can remember being a teenager and thinking how old 40 was let alone how old 50, 60 or beyond were. Well now I’ve passed 50 and looking forward to 60. Like others before me I don’t feel that age. When I talk to others around my age I hear complaints about what hurts, what they can’t do any more, what they have to give up now that they are in their 50’s and 60’s.
Some times I listen and some times I decide to turn the tables and ask if they would prefer the alternative. That usually seems to help them start thinking about all the things they can do instead of what is not working.
One day last week Willard Scott was doing his birthday wishes to those over 100. He asked the audience if they noticed that the ages had started creeping up to 104, 105, 106... I also noticed that he was also reporting that many of them were either still living on their own or had been until recently.
Many people don’t want to celebrate their birthdays any more. I used to be that way but now think of it as a gift to still be here. As baby boomers or beyond we’ve seen a lot happen in our lives and can still look forward with anticipation to what is still to come. There are so many new products being developed, travel to most places is accessible, new medicines (and alternatives) as well as new medical procedures and devices, we now have ways to meet new friends who we’ve never seen, we can learn about almost anything via the internet, library or films, we have choices of housing, we have so many things that were not available even a few years ago. We now know there are newly discover developmental stages that people go through as they age and most involve using new found freedoms and creativity.
Now the question is if we have the gift of aging what are we going to do with it and how are we going to use it?
Please post a comment to discuss this issue.
Laugh and thrive,
Jo
Some times I listen and some times I decide to turn the tables and ask if they would prefer the alternative. That usually seems to help them start thinking about all the things they can do instead of what is not working.
One day last week Willard Scott was doing his birthday wishes to those over 100. He asked the audience if they noticed that the ages had started creeping up to 104, 105, 106... I also noticed that he was also reporting that many of them were either still living on their own or had been until recently.
Many people don’t want to celebrate their birthdays any more. I used to be that way but now think of it as a gift to still be here. As baby boomers or beyond we’ve seen a lot happen in our lives and can still look forward with anticipation to what is still to come. There are so many new products being developed, travel to most places is accessible, new medicines (and alternatives) as well as new medical procedures and devices, we now have ways to meet new friends who we’ve never seen, we can learn about almost anything via the internet, library or films, we have choices of housing, we have so many things that were not available even a few years ago. We now know there are newly discover developmental stages that people go through as they age and most involve using new found freedoms and creativity.
Now the question is if we have the gift of aging what are we going to do with it and how are we going to use it?
Please post a comment to discuss this issue.
Laugh and thrive,
Jo
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