Old Age — A Curtain Call but Not an Ending
Still stocking up on those toilet paper rolls? We’ve got something better for you to stock up on — positive spirits!
From the slightly teetered window, the autumn wind brings in the smell of fresh crisp leaves. Through the curtains, the world seems to be pulsing with life, tinged with splashes of orange, yellow, and red. It’s that time of the year again when dry leaves decorate the ground with remnants of passed time.
As the wind blows its final furious puff, disconnected from the stem, the last of the leaves will sift onto the ground. And as cars drive over them and feat tread atop them, as the Earth’s sphere rotates in its stem, the fragmented colors will become engraved into the pavement, its vividness slowly fading into tiny particles of fine dust.
Perhaps it’s the falling leaves, the chilly breeze, or the bursting trees, there’s something about the autumn season that evokes in us a reflective kind of emotion.
The drastic change of the weather and the alterations of the color palette of the world sets the mood of an eventual approaching end. We can’t deny the fact that slowly we are reaching the furthermost spectrum of a year. As each tree bursts with its own declarative colors, it feels like the fourth of July. Fireworks are exploding on every corner of the world — a finale that calls for an encore. And as the clapping drowns down, as the audience starts to gather their belongings and make way to the exit, the curtain will descend. The actors of the show must head to the dressing room and remove the extravagant stage makeup, strip themselves of the heavily ornamented costumes, separate from their bulky masks and return the shining jewelry to crawl back to their humble abodes.
As disheartening as all this may sound, life after the curtain call isn’t a doomed end. In fact, the beauty of every act lies behind the curtains — the feeling of contentment and accomplishment of having enacted a successful performance. And then of course there is the peace that ensues the finale of all great performances. The simple reassurance of returning home after a great feat makes the enervation seem like a medal of recognition. Like so, autumn is fall — a descending down from the climax but not a decline. A conclusion but not a termination. A curtain call but not an ending.
It’s a change. It’s a time for preparation. It’s a time for reflection. It’s a job well done and calls for a standing ovation. And this deep-seated sense of fulfillment is a universally shared human experience — a seasonal change in the depths of our minds — deeply woven into the very fabric of life.
Autumn is magical because of its associations. It may mean the end of summer and an approaching cold winter, but the year’s end is full of the most exciting moments of life — Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even New Years Eve. Like so, aging is like autumn. Aging is magical because of its associations — welcoming grandchildren, time to finally pursue that life-long dream, wisdom to be unperturbed by trivial life defeats, or even the peace in enjoying that morning coffee as the younger generations scramble to keep their heads above water.
Having an optimistic outlook on aging can not only help you become a more positive person but can also affect your aging process. Recent studies have revealed that positive thinking has the potential to extend our lifespan. Positivity boosts our mood and opens gateways to happy hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. In the long run, positivity helps us with three main factors:
1. Positivity helps us cope with stress.
A study from North Carolina State University found that older adults who viewed aging in a positive light experienced fewer negative emotions when faced with daily stress. Additionally, the study showed that having a positive attitude toward aging can buffer our reactions to stress and improve our overall resilience. Resilience is particularly important for older adults because it helps them to “bounce back” and cope after experiencing stressful events associated with aging, such as the loss of a spouse, illness, or disability. [1]
2. Positivity protects our physical and cognitive health
A 2016 study by researchers in Ireland found that having a positive attitude towards aging may help protect older adults’ physical and cognitive health. According to the study, older adults with negative attitudes toward aging had slower walking speeds and declined cognitive abilities after two years. Another study found that people who had positive views on aging earlier in life were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s when they reached old age. [1]
3. Positivity can help us live longer
Your self-perception of aging may also impact your life expectancy. One study on positivity and aging found that older adults with a positive outlook on aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those with a less positive outlook toward aging. [1]
Healthy aging is strongly connected to embracing a positive attitude and outlook on aging. The autumn season may incite in us feelings of melancholy and heavy-heartedness but that is because we become too pensive and serious due to the atmosphere of finality. Like autumn, aging evokes sentimentality, nostalgia, and reminiscence — emotions that our mind oftentimes confuses with depression. But these emotions are the very evidence of the prosperous life we have led and are the reasons to rediscover new meanings and motivations in life.
Sure cold times may be up ahead but if you prepare firewood for the winter snow, you can marvel at the frosty polar from the warmth of your fireplace. Stock up now on those positive spirits.
Source:
[1] “Redefining Aging: Why Having a Positive Outlook is Good for Your Health.” Bethany Village, Graceworks Lutheran Services, https://bethanylutheranvillage.org/why-having-a-positive-outlook-is-good-for-healthy-aging/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020
