Yes, You Are Old. Get Over It!

Getting older? Well, so are we all. Sure, it’s tough, but here are some reasons why old age isn’t all bad:

 

— You have won! I looked it up: half of the people born in my year (1942) haven’t made it this far! You get a gold medal.

 

—You have more perspective. Everyone is fretting about the latest world crisis? Your parents remembered World War II and the stock market crash. You remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Great Recession and 9/11. Been there, done that!

 

—Younger people treat you with respect. You no longer resist if someone offers you a seat on the bus.

 

—You have so many stories to tell. I don’t care who you are, a lot of very interesting things have happened in your long life. Share them.

 

—You don’t have to invest for the long term. You don’t have a long term!

 

—Social Security and Medicare may be in trouble, but they will still be there in your lifetime. If your insurance is good, you don’t pay much in doctor bills, even for hospital stays.

 

—You are not going to die young.

 

—Doctors don’t recommend treatment of some slow-growing cancers. You’ll probably die of something else first.

 

—There are tons of senior discounts. My wife made me join AARP when I was 50.

 

—You are surprised to be considered an expert in historical events. You saw Willie Mays play? Well, yes, didn’t everybody?

 

—You know who you are. No more identity crisis of trying to be a square peg in a round hole. If you hate being alone, seek out other people. If you hate large crowds, avoid them.

 

—You can give up things you never liked anyway. For me, it was swimming.

 

—If a kid beat you up in the school yard at age 13, it would be “boys will be boys.” If you were attacked today, there would be a long prison sentence and an expensive lawsuit.

 

—You save time in your physical workouts by getting worn out twice as fast as when you were younger.

 

—You have nothing to lose. If you are afraid to go on stage, demonstrate for a cause or disrupt a conversation, what is the downside? Why be embarrassed? You have already proven yourself in life.

 

—You take things in stride. Someone wronged you 40 years ago? Forget it!

—Sometimes you connect better with your grandchildren than you did with your kids. The younger ones don’t see you as the authoritarian figure telling them what to do. And you can return them to their parents when you are tired of them.

—If you are retired, you can do what you want. Take an afternoon nap and who is going to complain?

—If you are still working, you have more leverage than a middle-aged person with a mortgage, a family and kids to support. Now you can tell that horrible boss: “I’m outta here!”