Ageism and the Art of Aging
Everyone ages. No one escapes. As my mother used to say: it’s the only justice in the world.
Aging can be a challenge, and most of us get better at facing it with each passing year. However, not everyone goes peacefully. Some people love to bitch all the way cursing and blaming the world for their problems, real or imagined. The rest smile and take steps to improve whatever needs improving in their lives or simply accept their changing reality and make the most of years of experience.
Then aging becomes somewhat freeing, don’t you think? I mean, as you age you stop worrying about what people might think about you because you realize that they seldom do. They are too busy worrying about themselves.
Aging frees you to be yourself, to express yourself as you see fit. You no longer accept people treating you with disrespect so you face those guilty of discrimination head on. The average person might think that discrimination based on age does not exist, but it does. Ageism is a hidden cancer in our society, and it can be subtle and directed at boomers with a bit of gray hair not just the very elderly. We should not be afraid to speak up against it.
Even health care professionals are guilty of ageism, preferring to care for younger people because older people “will die soon anyway” I heard one doctor say recently when I accompanied an ailing older relative to a medical clinic. Yeah, sure, but that doctor will experience aging only if he is one of the lucky ones, and then he might well prefer receiving proper care rather than being dismissed because of his age.
No matter where we are in life, we all to fight ageism just as we do when confronted with other forms of discrimination so that everyone can feel they belong.
Then, as we get older we can feel secure in the realization that we have accumulated experience and wisdom that can benefit younger people. And we can be proud of the wisdom we continue to accumulate.
Recently, when I made a remark about life to an acquaintance, she commented that I was very wise. I felt so very proud that decades of living are yielding recognition. At last!
May we all be recognized as being adept in the art of aging. It is after all a crowning step of life.
