No Magic Path Of Flowers And Unicorns To Old Age

Thomas recognized that getting old isn't easy. There is a constant barrage of new infirmities and insults (even if they are a matter of internal dialog) and embarrassments. The usual way of dealing with this is to accept the "inevitable" and batter down for everything getting worse. Start using a cane, a walker, and then a wheelchair. Don't try to work through your emotions. Let the nurse give you Haldol or Xanax. Don't try new foods. Get your old favorites sent through a grinder. Don't make new friends. Start talking to yourself.

Younger people are better at quick responses and literal understanding. Older people are better at clever responses and imaginative understanding. Younger people are admired for their physical appearance and prowess. Older people are admired for their selfless service to community.  “It’s a loveliness the maiden cannot know," Thomas is quoted as saying in the Washington Post. "Honor this beauty, and it will honor you.”

Thomas's message isn't that if you have to go the old folks home, you'll be happier if at least you can stare at a fern all day. It isn't that it's nice to pet puppies and kitties or to listen to children playing, especially when they aren't your children and you can retreat to your room any time you want.

At my last birthday I became a senior citizen myself. There was a long time in my own life I couldn't imagine being this old. Now that I am "old," I actually like it. Here's why:

• I have been through enough crises I have confidence in my ability to pull through anything, even though the older I get, the more crises I have to navigate to continue to live independently.
• I care what people think, but I don't get upset when people disagree with me or don't appreciate me. What counts is that I have done the things I had to do to be comfortable in my own skin.
• I realize how limited my imagination was back when my mind was quicker. I may occasionally forget someone's name or stumble over a term when I'm quoting something in a foreign language or forget where I put my keys, but I also have vastly greater problem solving abilities because I have had to solve a vast number of problems.
• I have slowed down enough to be consistently the kind of human being I want to be. A slower pace helps me be kinder, more thoughtful, and more moral.
• I can still learn new things. After 22 surgeries and 45 hospitalizations in three years, I somehow managed to reach the point I'm taking up Qi Gong, starting work out with kettlebells instead of weight machines, I'm going back to my lifelong hobby of hiking in mountains (just smaller mountains with more interesting terrain), I'm exercising my authority in places where I've earned it, and I'm exercising the social skills to grow plants in a community garden instead of half an acre of my own.

READ The Cheater's Guide to Look Naturally Younger and Beat Aging

You're as young as you feel, and I don't feel a day over 57 (which is a little ways back for me). Just because you're getting older, you don't have to stop finding your unique path through life. More than any drug or health device, it's staying engaged with life that helps you enjoy maturity.