Friday, August 24, 2018

Age-ing to Sage-ing

I think 65 is a phony age.
I do not see why we should be losing the productivity of people at a certain age.
There is very little reason why there should be an artificial age limitation at all.

I often ask people if they know someone who is 75 years old and acts like he is 35 and see appreciative nods. I then ask if they know someone who is 45 who acts like she is 80 and see the eyes roll and the knowing nods. The question I then like to pose is this: what, then, are we saying about one's "real age" and the aging process?

We are assenting to the idea that, though one's age is a matter of chronology, aging itself is largely a matter of attitude. There can be a wide disparity between being a certain age and acting out that age -- hence the [hase "you are as young as you think." The fact that we know 75-years-olds who act 45 affirms the attitudinal and spiritual source of that which separates those people who are age-ing from those who are old.

Old is not what it used to be. Remember that when  the age for retirement was originally set at 65, a majority of people did not even live until retirement age. Now, 2018, we live 20 to 30 years past the retirement age.

The age of 65 in this day and age has little resemblance to the age of 65 in say, 1980. Most people are not old at 65 today. They may or may not have slowed down. Thirty(30) years ago you did not see many men in their 70s and 80s jumping out of airplanes, flying in outer space, or riding skateboards. You may recall the story about the four generations of family water skiing in synchronicity : great grandpa at 92, grandpa at 63, dad at 40 and junior at 5! these types of activity will serve as portents of the active lifestyles in seniors of the future. We will see more and more of the aging role models in years to come.

It is ironic that our society, rather than adjusting to this longevity trend, continues to promote a retirement age that was established over 125 years ago. many have failed to comprehend that if they retire at 60, for example, they could spend as many years in their retirement as they did in their working career. This is great if you have some invigorating and challenging pursuits before you in those 30+ years. If you don't, history shows that you will never see those 30 extra years.

No comments: