Embracing Aging: A Positive Perspective on Growing Older

One of the great things about being older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.

Madeleine L’Engle

As I swiftly approach my seventy-eighth birthday, I’ve decided it’s time to refresh my profile photo. Every time I glanced at the previous one, I felt confined to a different era—a time when my identity remained static, not evolving with the passage of time. It was a snapshot of a brief moment in my life, no longer accurately represented the changes I’ve undergone over the years.

When I turned seventy, I made a decision to postpone any concerns I had about aging until I was eighty. I thought, like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, that I could think about it tomorrow. Unfortunately, turning seventy-eight was a harsh wake-up call. What happened to all the years I had to put this off? The reality of eighty was becoming increasingly close.

Bret Harte’s quote, “We begin to die as soon as we are born, and the end is linked to the beginning,” initially struck me as incredibly cynical. While it’s true that no one lives forever, allowing the inevitability of aging to define one’s life seems like a rather depressing approach. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that time flies by in an instant. We can’t control time, but we do have the choice of how we’ll cope with the reality of aging.

I was taught that whatever life throws your way, if there’s nothing you can do to change it, you accept it and move on. Aging certainly qualifies as one of those things beyond our control. I don’t necessarily believe sixty is the new forty. However, I do believe we’re living longer, healthier, and more capable than ever before. Why not embrace this newfound energy and enjoy life to the fullest? Ultimately, the only one who truly has the power to shape your life is you. You’re right; you can’t stop the clock, but you can choose how you spend the time you have. People in their seventies and eighties are going back to school, starting businesses, traveling, and even running marathons. Perhaps we’re not hindered by our age, but rather by the way we perceive it.

Peace be with you.