Don't waste your final years on being old

Don’t waste your final years on being old.

Or – How old are you?

Tim Connor

As you read this I’m not sure how you define old so I won’t disappoint you by giving you my age (although many of you know it) but let’s assume “old” for many people is defined after they hit sixty?

I’m sure many of you are so young you can’t even imagine yourself that old and I’ll bet many of you older than sixty never imagined you would be this old. Therefore, you have no interest in this article – but beware – you will be there before you know it.  Just ask most of the older folks you know and I’ll bet most of them will admit that the years have passed by so fast they couldn’t even keep track of them.

So, I’m not going to tray and convince you folks under sixty that you should wake up and smell the roses – you’ve heard it all before but I am going to focus on why most older folks need to spend less time being old and more time being young.

Old - Having lived or existed for a relatively long time; far advanced in years or life. Relatively advanced in age. (What’s a relatively long time?  My addition).

FYI - The current average life span in America is – 77.6 years. S_____ I’m almost there.  Oh well, back to my article.

Why do so many people let their age define their lifestyle, attitudes, behavior or even their goals and dreams?  I could give you hundreds of examples of people throughout history who didn’t really start to hit their stride until they were over sixty and many into their seventies and even eighties?

I’m sure you know many people who are old or older. You may even one of them. Some of you may be getting to ready to retire this year or looking forward to retirement in the near future.  Want a scary statistic? The current average life span of the average retiree at age 65 is 5-7 years.  Yes, many people make it to ninety and some pass away at 66 but the average is only a few short years and why?

Because these folks lose their reason for living, being and even surviving.  There is no more reason to get up every day – why bother – it will just be the same ole same ole.  Sad.

I’m certainly not at all or in any way belittling retirement, however it just isn’t in my vocabulary or DNA so here I sit typing away (at 20 words per minute).

You’ve probably heard the line – how old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?  My mentor Mark Twain was once asked by a reporter, Mr. Twain how old are you and his response (so just Mark Twainish) was “My age is none of my business.”  The day I read that - that became one of my many life mantras. Age is a number and old age is a big number. 

What I really want to ask you is – how are you defining your life as the years creep up on you?  Slowing down?  Speeding up?  Starting new stuff? Letting go of dreams, goals and desires? Not sure what to do next? So many questions and so little time.

Here’s the right question – what are you going to do with the years you have left before it’s too late. . . . think about it!