5 Reasons I Can't Wait to Get Old

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be older than I was. It seemed like there was something better, something more on the horizon that would arrive once I was older. Adults said that would change, that there would come a time when I wouldn’t want to be older. I bought it. Until recently.

I dressed up as an old woman for a Zoom costume party and I realized - I can’t wait to get old!

Here are my top 5 reasons I can’t wait to get older (again):

More time in the world gives me the skills to better discern what matters and what’s worth spending and investing your resources in. I will have accumulated evidence about what’s valuable.
Resistance to getting old feels disrespectful to the people I love and admire who were or are old. Why wouldn’t I want to be like them with their wisdom, stories, and their wrinkles and soft underarms?
Age doesn’t equal illness and disease. People of all ages experience illness and disease, and recovery isn’t a direct correlation with age. Humans are more complicated than that.
I also don’t equate aging with dying. I am no “closer to death” when I’m old because I’m not guaranteed any more time today than I will be when I am 88.
Aging is a naturally occurring biological process, and resisting it only creates unnecessary stress and pressure.

I’m aging or I’m dead. In this, there are only two options. One option comes with challenges with relationships, uncomfortable emotions that I dread having to experience, a changing body and changing status or value in the community or culture.

It also comes with life.
It’s a package deal. I said yes to this lifetime and I’m all in.

I want it all! The bad and the good, the hard and the soft, the easy and the challenging. I wnt all the experiences. More than anything, I want to get old.

In case you are curious...

Here I am as an old woman.
In all likelihood, this is a fairly accurate representation of my face and hair as I age. We don't change really that much - wrinkles, softness, graying, and still the same in many ways.

If you were given the opportunity to see yourself when you get older would you take it?
Why or why not?

On a related note...

I am fascinated by the interplay between biological, psychological and socio- cultural factors that affect aging. Dr. Mario Martinez, author of the Mind-Body Code opened my eyes to what's possible. I enjoyed listening to him speak about how you think about "middle-age" might be affecting you, healthy centenarians, and how the culture views aging can change your biological health. You can listen to it on Youtube here.

In other words...

"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage
of opportunity and strength."
- Betty Friedan

"Age is no barrier.
It's a limitation you put on your mind."
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

A good question...

What do I think about aging?
In what ways is that helping me?

Until next Sunday,

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