Don't Fear Old Age. 5 Reasons Why You Should Embrace and Even Enjoy Getting Older.
With age comes wisdom.
Old age is not something to be ashamed of, it is not necessarily something we should worry about and our twilight years could award us with some of the best experiences of our lives, if only we took the time to recognize it. Yet, as old age begins to creep up on us, it seems to frighten many of us, more and more. Just the thought of impending fragility and loss of our independence, leaves us with a sense of apprehension and uncertainty about our futures. This is not entirely our fault however, we are fed this disillusion and false expectation, from our many areas of influence.
Our older friends and relatives, openly tell us of all the ailments that they now suffer from as a consequence of their old age. We frequently hear about their bad back, aching joints and fading eye sight. They complain on numerous occasions that their hearing isn't quite what it used to be and their not as quick or as strong as they were when they were a 'wee nipper snapper'. The media does little to disprove this theory either, by favoring youth and making the world seem like it belongs to the young. Advertising also generally celebrates youth and uses it to front the majority of their campaigns. So its little wonder that we view old age in the way that we do.
In some cultures, the elders of society are given the respect they deserve and treated with the reverence that they have earned throughout their lives. Before I became a full time writer, I used to work in a residential care home, helping mentally ill and disabled pensioners through out their everyday lives. And wow what lives they had lived, it really opened my eyes to just how much they have accomplished in the world and contributed to society as a whole. For many people old age hasn't impeded on their life in the slightest and there are a lot of different reasons to actually look forward to getting older, here are 5 of the best.
You are a fountain of knowledge.
We learn something new everyday and throughout your life you will accumulate a wealth of facts, figures, information and knowledge. You will have a better understanding of the way the world works then ever before and of a more advanced level then many other people on the planet. You would have unraveled the mysteries of the human mind (to a degree of which is satisfactory enough for you) and explored all aspects of feeling in the human heart, leaving you in no doubt of how to deal with any emotion you find yourself feeling.
The older someone is the more valuable their advice is, there is no substitute for experience and the longer the length of time that you have walked this planet, the greater amount of situations you have had to deal with. Yes you would have made mistakes, but these are just learning curves that have not had the ideal outcome. Warning people of what doesn't work can also be as useful as information about what does.
You have a vast body of work behind you.
One thing that I am especially looking forward to as I get older, is looking back over my extended body of work. I write everyday and am steadily building on my writing portfolio. I love seeing how my articles and views continue to accumulate over time. The more you do something the better you get at it and the more time that I spend writing the more proficient I get at it.
It takes ten thousand hours to become a master at something and by my calculations I have achieved about 20% of this feat in my writing ability and I have noticed in that time, my work has significantly improved. When I reach old age I will have a wide range of work that I get increasingly better at and ever more proud of.
Where ever your talents lie and whatever your skills maybe you will see all your feats of achievement pile up over time and you can say with absolute conviction and satisfaction 'I did that'.
You know who you truly are.
You have had the benefit of an extended life to have learned to appreciate you. You have weeded through all the things that you don't enjoy or can't appreciate and can surround yourself with the people and the things that you absolutely love, and you now know that you wouldn't want to be without.
You have developed a strong sense of self and you are aware that time is not to be wasted, so you can concentrate your energies on things that make you feel good about life. You have also reached an important stage in your life, where you know exactly what matters and what definitely does not. You can sit back and take pleasure in all the little things that improve your life, knowing that as long as you know how valuable they are to you, then in the grand scheme of things that's all that matters.
You can smile knowingly at the ignorance of youth and know that they will learn and develop as individuals in their own time and at a rate that is comfortable and right for them. You can also feel grateful that you have already gone through the entire process of self discovery and can be secretly pleased that you don't have to go through all that again.
You have a library of memories.
Photographs, video recordings, letters, trophies and certificates will be a material reminder of the full and wonderful life that you have led. Every event, trip and person that has passed through your life you can carry around with you, where ever you want. You can relive them when ever you want and blissfully reminisce all those good times in life.
You will have an amazing backlog of stories and antidotes at your disposal. You have probably seen a plethora of films and read hundreds of books. You have had the privilege to have attended events some people could only dream of having had the chance to have been around for. You have experienced first hand significant historical events and witnessed first hand changes in society.
You are at a point of freedom.
As a child you are continually told what to do and restricted in lots of areas in life. As a teenager you are fought with uncertainty and a rapidly changing body and mind. Through out most of your adult life you are either working or looking after children or in some cases trying to juggle both simultaneously. You spend most of your life navigating the baffling maze of life and are tied down by many expectations and responsibilities. Well guess what, when you're older you don't have to worry about any of that, you're free to go off and truly do your own thing, by your own terms and in your own unique way.
Getting old is not a bad thing, it can be a great thing. Look after your finances, your body, your mind and your soul now and it will pay you back by the bucket load when your older. So you can actually enjoy old age, like many other people manage to do and quite happily too.
