Thursday, May 3, 2007

Revolt of the Old Farts

Remember when people in their 50’s, 60’s or 70’s were considered “old”? Recent scientific studies are now re-evaluating the aging process, and people can push the “old fart” aging concept further and further away. Thanks to modern medicine, better diet and more exercise, an aging person need no longer be considered an “old fart”.

Aging is not on a fixed schedule. The latest medical studies suggest that our brains can grow new connections well into the “senior citizen” stage of life. As with our physical body, our brain can grow, remain young and gain vigor with more exercise. Find new passions, hobbies and jobs after your old job ends. Seek out new friends and build new relationships, indulge in new activities and adventures after your old life becomes memory.

We may be retiring from our jobs around age 65, but the “old folks home” can stay vacant for decades as we continue to think young, find new jobs to create new futures for ourselves.

Certainly your mirror doesn’t lie. After all, you’re no longer young in years. There will be aches and pains ahead. But your mind, and your aging body, can still achieve many of the creative experiences which your youthful energy once enjoyed. Look forward to new horizons of friends, fun and fascination with every moment of every day you have left. There is a lot more joy in the Old Boy or Old Girl yet.

Don’t become an “old fart”! Old farts complain a lot, forget to smile, fear the new, the unfamiliar and the untried. You cannot regain that fresh, unlined face, but you can regain the freshness of youthful spirit and adventure.

Live it. Do it. To have new friends, be a friend. To have a happier future, create it, one day at a time.

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