Getting Old Or Getting Old?

Why do some people seem to age better than others? Sometimes we blame differences on health, for example, or financial stability. However, there is often one detail that we overlook, and that is that getting old or getting old are different things.

It does not seem that the real answer is in health or economic status. This certainly helps, but many people with these two facets of their lives in good condition seem to lead rather miserable lives compared to others who face significant challenges on both counts.

People who age with a youthful spirit do not feel old. On the contrary. Many of them complain of having to share activities, customs and habits typical of old people. This, apart from the smile that can wake us up, is a reality that completely changes the way we understand aging.

Not all seniors feel old

My father was a person who never felt old. Until the day before his death, he had pending long-term plans, studies and activities that completed each of his days.

I never saw him lower his arms before the limitations or losses imposed by age, that physical deterioration that we all accuse over the years. He did not like the company of many of the people his age because he said that they had become old. This used to make me laugh.

Nor did the disease change his attitude. A heart ailment that tortured him during his last years and that posed many fears. He always did it with an excellent sense of humor and never allowed the disease to grow so large as to occupy every corner.

Thinking about it, about this way of not surrendering to limitations, I realized that this had always happened to him. He was never really comfortable around people his age. My father always surrounded himself with young people. He became a mentor for many young people who were attracted to aviation, sharing experiences and training many of them.

My memories of my childhood home are very much like a school. It was always full of young people, with a lot of vitality, magnetic minds eager to learn, with great future projects and my father always surrounded by them, full of passion and desire to teach others what he loved to do so much. With age, this did not change and it was perhaps the best way to grow old one can have and, without a doubt, the best model.

Why does it age badly?

This is a very difficult question to answer. The truth is that people don’t change that much when they get older. What does happen is that, perhaps, we get closer to our true self. Perhaps there are no longer so many energies to hide our true selves.

In many cases, people who grow old victims of their own bad mood, lack of empathy, full of resentment and frustrations are but a reflection of how they have lived their lives. Probably in many cases they were already like that before they got older. It’s just that it becomes increasingly difficult to hide the true nature and it is reflected in all aspects of our life.

Growing old feeling young

There are some key patterns and qualities that people who grow old feeling young seem to share. The real difference between getting old and getting old seems to lie in these patterns.

Can we avoid getting old before our time? Can we grow old without feeling old? What is the secret of seniors living meaningful, fulfilling, and rewarding lives? We have some clues that our most vibrant elders have left us as a legacy.

The keys

Keeping the passion, looking at the horizon, seems a key point. Choose activities that motivate us, that make us excited. Be creative, help with common causes, make commitments and complete a daily agenda.

Maintain and build healthy relationships around us. Family is important, yes, but building friendships that last is a guarantee of future emotional well-being. Altruism is also a common quality shared by older women who age well.

Helping others gives you a sense of meaning, that your life has value because you are useful to someone. Being able to help others has a very positive impact on self-esteem.

Also our older youngsters share a taste for fun and a sense of humor. Having fun has no age and laughter is a source of vitality. A cultivated sense of humor is a great exercise for our brain.

Beliefs, personal values, spiritual practices. Absolutely personal concepts that are the reflection of our values, each one that best fits with himself. This seems to be another inexhaustible source of rejuvenation.

Getting old or old: a challenge

These qualities that seem to make a big difference between getting old and getting old are not something that one develops at a certain age to age better. We don’t realize it, but we all get older every day.

How we are living our lives right now, how we feel today in our own skin is what is going to decide in some way if we are going to enjoy our old age or if on the contrary we are going to suffer it. Are you ready for the challenge?