Old? Nah, age is just a number so some of us may say.
Another thing some of us may say is; you're only as old as you feel.
Then there are some of us who'll use whatever method we can find
to keep old age at bay.
Old, may I suggest, is one of those contentious words that keep on
changing meaning as we live and grow through life's many different
passages.
''I'm not old, I'm mature, like a good bottle of red(wine).''
''I would prefer to be viewed as elderly rather than old, please.''
''I'm not old, I'm a senior.''
As I am getting on in years, I am finding that I often compare
myself to a car. As in: As long as the engine is healthy, a few dings and
a bit of rust here and there matters less. (A ''rust bucket'' with
a Porsche engine in my view is definitely preferable to the
other way around.)
The ''oil'' which no engine can do without, for me, that ''oil'' is; keeping
an open mind and keep learning and attaining new information.
In my view, life contains of a number of different ''passages''.
And every passage we go through in life, offer us unique opportunities
to grow in wisdom, insight and understanding.
Some say that old people are set in their ways, unwilling to
embrace the ''new'', and perhaps this may be the case for
some of us, but in my view that does not necessarily have to do
with how old someone is, rather, it depends on an
individual's mindset.
I often watch a show called ''Millionaire hot seat'' which is just
a very generic kind of Quiz show but I still enjoy watching it.
What I have started to notice is how often competitors
in the age bracket 20-something to 30-something begin
their answers with ''that's/was before my time, but....''.
For me this is a very strange thing to say.
Is it meant to be some sort of disclaimer?
''I wasn't born then so why/how should I know?''
This puzzles me because when one is in one's 20's/30's,
basically everything before one's birth is what is called
history, and history is taught in most schools.
(I was not alive in 1865, but I still know that that was when
the American Civil war ended, ... for instance.)
''If you don't know history, then you don't know anything.
You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.''
(Michael Crichton)
History is more than dates, places, wars, inventions, buildings,
kings and queens, catastrophes, etc. etc. etc.
History, as I view it, provides context not only to the past but
also to the present.
''Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.''
(Winston Churchill)
In cultures that glorifies youth it can be difficult for older
people to feel that they matter, that they are still valued
and appreciated for what they contribute and have contributed.
We need to get rid of unhelpful stereotyping and stop paying too much
attention to ''isms''. (Ex: Boomers are responsible for todays troubles.
Aka: ''agism'')
The aging process is an inevitable part of living and basing
our treatment of our fellow human beings simply on
how many years he or she has lived could in my view
potentially rob us of unique opportunities for gaining a greater
insight and understanding of what it is to be a human.
''I rather be an old VW Beetle with a Porsche engine
than a Porsche with an old VW engine.''
(Citizen Z)
''The wisest young is the young who can look at the
world through they eyes of the elderly.''
(Mehret Murah ildan)
''The wisest elderly is the elderly who can look at the
young through the eyes of a youth.''
(Citizen Z)
''Of course I know how old I am!
Well, I know when I was born.
I don't like doing the math so I usually just
ballpark it.''
(stuff i wrote down)
about the image: photo titled ''Bathing beauties''
Stay visible, put on a bathing suit!
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