How Old is Old These Days?

I just read an interesting article in Forbes magazine that says we Boomers are redefining what age constitutes "old."

Here's the article: How Old is "Old?" (Somewhere older than me.)

It's an interesting read. Please check it out and then share your thoughts here...

While I celebrate that maybe there is redefinition by boomers of "old" and "aging" in our 50's, 60's, etc., there is point where this whole boomer self-definition of young forever has to ..um taper off.

I'm not saying we should crawl into our rocking chairs, just more calmly enjoy and relish life as is and every day, with mindfulness of our health and good habits.

I agree with you, Orchid, that we need to taper off, as you said. But not give up.

My mother, who is 84, told me about a year ago that her trainer -- not sure if it was tai chi or water exercise, or one of her other physical pursuits -- told her to consider the mantra: "If I did it yesterday, I can do it today and I can do it tomorrow."

But keep in mind my mother is not climbing mountains or running marathons. She often uses a walker, and carries oxygen with her everywhere she goes -- including the symphony and the pool.(I'm pretty sure her fellow orchestra attendees would prefer she not use the oxygen during the performance. Apparently her oxygen generator makes noise.)

I've told her she needs to consider these fellow orchestra-goers. After all, they too paid good money to hear fine live performances. This makes her so sad, as attending the orchestra is one of the highlights of her life.

I wish there would be soundproof rooms in orchestra settings, sort of like some churches have for families with noisy kids and babies. Where noisy people like my mother could be segregated off with those who are prone to cough, etc. Seems that if there were such rooms, EVERYONE could enjoy the music in peace.

IMHO the older a person gets, the younger their definition of old age becomes. When I was in my 20s, 55 looked old. Now that I've reached the latter, 80 and above looks aged. The news media around here refers to folks' over age 65 as being senior citizens. To me, those in their 80s and 90s are seniors. Back in my youth, this 80 and 90 group would've been acient. Now? Not so much!

EXACTLY! It's all in your perspective.

We have a 93 year old friend whose wife just died. She was 92. You cannot imagine how young he feels now. He was housebound while she was alive because she wasn't mobile and he never wanted to leave her with anyone else. Now he's out and about, walking everywhere, playing bridge every afternoon, and he tells us he feels the best he's felt in years. You can feel his energy and love for life. Age really is all attitude and perspective. The body might be crumbling, but if the mind and attitude are "young in spirit" why not! Why not go and do everything and anything your heart desires! I figure, the older you get, the more you deserve to do what you want to do.

At this time, my 71-yr.partner (who still cycles daily) is in Toronto helping his son-chef, launch his first shop in Toronto -- a sandwich and butcher shop.

So every day this week, dearie cycles daily from his hotel to the shop to stand around for 6 hrs. to handle the cash, plus bike around to do errands for his son --stationary supplies, municipal licenses, etc. He's happy to build his daily exercise in this practical way.

I can see that he LOVES getting involved in helping launch a business and also non-profit organizations (he's helping steer formation of a national organization on cycling intrastructure, plus provincial organization on cycling tourism..). He happily gets to use his expertise in contracts negotiation and analysis, business financial modelling and business planning but above he loves helping people articulate their visions and set plans to make dreams come true.

He's also setting up his son's e-commerce website..which was helped when I taught him how to blog awhile ago and in general being the computer technician by setting the computer equipment (weigh scale, cash register, accounting software).

So age is redefined, not always in the body, but in attitude of enthusiastically learning and looking forward to help the next generation. This alone keeps a person from becoming stale in attitude and stuck in a certain ways.

I enjoy hearing the stories from him, how the walk-in customers are responding. I believe he is now in a different stage ..with one of his children which is great to see.

What a wonderful story, Orchid! Thanks for sharing.