Demystifying Our Age
Accept it and move on
How do you approach aging? Do you accept it as inevitable or does it cause you angst?
I think about aging a lot, out of curiosity as I’m getting old. But not in a negative way.
After all, there’s nothing to do about it. Aging is inevitable, like death and paying taxes.
Yet, many members of the younger generation seemed hung up on the question of aging.
I recently met Karen in the queue at the local coffee house. Karen is a good friend of my eldest son, so we’ve known each other for a long time.
As a conversation opener, and in a downbeat tone, she lamented that her approaching 40th birthday was the beginning of old age.
As a child in the late ’50s, I denied that 40 was the beginning of her old age.
“Look at me” I suggested. “This is old age. You’re in your prime.”
Karen was skeptical. She was convinced that reaching 40 was stepping across the Rubicon into her antiquity.
I reminded Karen that age partly defines who we are at all stages of life — whether as an angst-ridden teenager or an ambitious 20-something.
Our age, whatever it is, should be celebrated. For Karen, reaching 40 wasn’t just a number. It was a reflection of her life, her experiences, her loves and losses, her successes and failures, her wisdom, and her resilience.
Instead of mourning, she should remember that her identity evolves with every milestone, every challenge she’s overcome, and every triumph celebrated. Her 40th birthday was the perfect time to look back on her life’s journey and understand the person she is now based on where she’s been.
I’ve come to believe that being older often means having a clearer sense of self. With age comes the ability to discern what truly matters in life and what doesn’t. The maturity that comes with age can help us define our values more clearly and stand by them more firmly.
Being older doesn’t merely define our identity — it enriches and deepens us, and provides a profound sense of perspective that only “time served” can offer.
So, every wrinkle is a testament to our wisdom; each gray hair signifies our experience. We should all embrace our age as an integral part of our identity because it symbolizes the story we’ve lived so far — and the chapters yet to be written.
