Getting Old

Hopefully, age is inevitable. I embrace my age, as with age comes experience and knowledge. However, it also comes with aches, pains, and memory lapses. I get so excited when I remember things that seem lost in the brain abyss. Perhaps my hard drive is too full.

There are so many changes every day in the Presidential race of two older men, but the reality is that they are each older today than they were yesterday, and that will not change. We might be living longer lives, but internally, 40 is still 40, and 80 is still 80. As more people live to be 100, we should be thinking about the cost and the opportunities for those who continue to use their minds to impact society. I do not believe that should be running the country. How do we change that?

My Mom used to look in the mirror and say, “Getting old is so weird.” Of course, as a teenager, I thought she was ridiculous. At 62, I get it. Your skin changes, your agility slows down, your thought processes aren’t as quick, you don’t eat as much, your sleep changes, and there are countless other things, but we soldier on.

In my head, I am still the same person, although certainly more self-aware. However, I am not the same physically as I was at 30. There are 54 senators over 65, making the average age of the 100-person Senate 58, and nearly 25% of Congress is over 70. Remember the days when 70 was so old?

This is not the only industry where age is hanging on to their power. On the other hand, people are retiring at 60 and are trying to figure out how to spend the next 40 years getting up every morning with purpose. This is only becoming a more significant issue in society.