129: As I Age, There are Three Things I Just Don't Get
Culture these days, has me (and perhaps you) scratching your head more often than not and saying, "I just don't get it!"
That simple phrase is another way to imply that something is off or that something's missing that would otherwise be a better option.
When it comes to aging, I prefer to keep my curiosity alive, push the limits a bit more than others, and be more of a rebel.
Not "getting it" leaves room for some rebelliousness on the path to solutions along with the opportunity to push the edges a bit more proactively than critically.
I truly want you to "get on" with aging rather than being stuck in a rut of complacency.
What you "don't get" as you age will keep you from following the status quo and enable you to stay actively engaged
The better you'll be the more often you see aging through the lens of "I just don't get it..."
At some point, make your own list, but for now here are three things "I don't get as I age."
I don't get how aging becomes an excuse
Your age isn't the issue, the effects of aging, perhaps.
I'm aware and sensitive to the realities that come with age.
Health challenges, diminishing retirement funds, aches and pains, and ageism, to name a few.
Those are the effects of aging that can become excuses on occasion.
What's not excusable, from my perspective, is accepting your age as anything but a number.
Why settle for 40 as the alleged over-the-hill age? In this era, 40 is the age to get a re-do for the immature, inexperienced decisions of your 20s and 30s.
Who said 50 or 60 is time to wind down. Why wind down when you still have something left in the tank?
And the 70s and 80s, those are the decades where the pace might slow for whatever reason, but it's no excuse to stop moving, learning, growing, exploring, or pursuing new interests.
And if you make into your 90s or are blessed to hit the century mark, celebrate the arrival but don't you dare think you're done...because you're not done until you are!
”You become weaker because you stop challenging your strength and you start listening to yourself when you tell yourself getting weak is just “normal” or “what’s supposed to happen.”1
No excuses!
I don't get why aging feels like the end is near
When does age awareness start?
I recall first thinking about aging when I approached and reached 40.
That was when I began to feel those physical reminders that I'm not 20 anymore.
Even so, I was running, doing strength training, and staying somewhat active deep into my 40s.
I picked up a longboard again in my early to mid 50s and will likely still be riding it on occasion now, into my 60s.
5ks, 10ks, and half-marathons are still on my agenda, as are my daily yoga and body weight exercises along with the other hippie-dippie habits I'm into.
I still play catch with my grandsons and I'm not afraid to hop on the basketball court, pass a football, or swing a bat.
If you had asked my early 40s self how I felt about aging, I would probably have been a bit melancholy and end-times oriented (not in the biblical sense, rather the I'm getting old sense).
Now, in my 60s I'm like, "the end...the end of what??"
I do feel my age some days and I am sobered a bit more as I'm moving into the next two and hopefully three decades of my life and more as I'm up for it.
I'm all-in on aging vibrantly and calling the shots as much as I can.
And in the end...I'll consider my life having been a wonderful ride!
I don't get what the younger generation thinks about aging
The "okay boomer" crowd and those who created the "becoming your parents" commercials (hysterical, by the way), see aging as a liability and a season of weird irrelevance.
And the way some age (excuses and all) puts a target on the backs of those who are intent on living a fulfilled life into their later decades.
It's not fair to lump everyone of a certain age into the same category.
When you feel the sting of cultural ageism I hope you'll be living proof that age is merely a number.
Aging is a reality not a "sentence."
Prove the younger crowd wrong by something other than having things tightened, tox'd, lifted, or enhanced.
Prove them wrong by being active, resilient, and making the most of your time.
Compel the younger generation to keep up with you, listen to you, learn from you, and leverage your aging vibe as their motivation to be like you "when they grow up."
Those proofs beat being categorized as irrelevant or discardable, don't you think?
Press on...
Eddie
P.S. I'm taking a week off from publishing next week. Enjoy your July 4th holiday weekend and celebrating our country's 250th!
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