Aging Boomer or Ageless Bloomer
The American way of aging, steeped in stultifying tradition and
flawed conventional wisdom of a bygone era, is slowly changing.
But for now, tradition and custom still dominate. You know the
routine: Around age 50 an accelerating number of sound bites,
events and dire warnings about inescapable problems and pitfalls
of aging are relentless reminders life is winding down.
You are deemed lazy or irresponsible if you have not prepared to
acquire that contagious, debilitating disease called retirement
- a political absurdity of the Depression Era that
short-circuits the life and potential of many capable people
and, burdens society in too many ways to count.
Bombarded by countless predictions of impending disability and
death, you start looking for signs of your own decline. A
momentary memory lapse, which everyone experiences, regardless
of age, results in a panicky "I'm having a senior moment." I
have never heard a teenager experiencing a memory lapse (and
they have plenty of them) berate him or herself with "I'm having
a junior moment."
You drop something and immediately declare, "I must be getting
old." Young people drop things all the time and don't imagine
they are getting old. They just bend over and pick it up. Youth
doesn't sweat the small stuff - why should you?
The advent of age 60 can really accelerate the "old age"
wrecking ball. Tradition says it's time to leave the real world.
It's time to travel and play golf the rest of your life.
Social and family pressure convinces you the home you've lived
in all your life is now "too much" for you. So you move to a
retirement community where you not only enjoy the comfort and
camaraderie of peers, but you are also vulnerable to the reality
of the Grim Reaper who manifests himself in an abnormal
concentration of sickness, depression, and death.
You adopt attitudes and behaviors that instruct your
subconscious to help you let go of life. You kid yourself that
you are just taking time to smell the roses but before you know
it, the roses are on your coffin and you are pushing up daises.
Here's the good news: In spite of the pull of tradition and
social expectations, people are beginning to opt out of the
traditional aging process, refusing to slow down, fall into
line, give up, and drop out. Unfortunately, examples of
inspiring mature lives too often remain hidden. When brought to
light, we exclaim in astonishment, "Isn't she wonderful for her
age," or "Isn't it amazing what he is still doing?" When people
learn I am still working as a pharmacist, they gasp, "You are
still working full-time at age 76?" Big deal! Chronological age
is an accounting of time gone by, not a measure of physical or
mental capacity.
Expression of amazement for age-related competence is
patronizing. Ability should be valued for what it is, without
reference to chronological age. That point will be reached when
more influential and outspoken mature role models come out of
the "old age" closet and show, if not flaunt, what they and
others are capable of accomplishing. They need to help establish
an enlightened society in which healthy, productive aging is no
longer newsworthy as something special. It will open doors of
opportunity and possibilities now closed to valuable and
talented people afflicted with nothing more incapacitating than
advanced chronological age.
How about you: Are you living a life that rejects the tyranny of
chronological age? Are you happily marching forward to the beat
of your own personal drummer? Are you gloriously "out of sync"
with convention-bound peers? Are you productively defying
archaic wisdom that no longer makes sense? If so, the world
needs to know about you.
In the past century, the American life span has increased 27
years. Boomers are the first generation ever to have the
opportunity for a healthy, productive Second Life. They can
choose the traditional aging route as their parents did, or
forge an exciting, unprecedented transition from fantasy-driven
"young forever boomer" to real-life healthy, productive, ageless
bloomer. It's a matter of choice, not chance. It's just that
simple.