Time’s upside: the many advantages of maturity
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Seniors riding bicycles
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November 10, 2010
MetroWest CARES, the Committee Addressing Resources for Eldercare Services, is coordinated by United Jewish Communities with support from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey; CARES brings together professionals and lay leaders from MetroWest agencies that provide services to older adults. Each month, a MetroWest CARES agency presents an educational column on an eldercare issue. This month’s column on how Baby Boomers are redefining older age is presented by Jewish Vocational Service.
As baby boomers reach the age of 60, they have redefined what that number means. As with everything the boomer generation has done, they are breaking “the rules” and turning maturity into the “best years of your life.” Boomers don’t think of themselves as getting older; they are more like a “Peter Pan generation” conflicted between the benefits of an AARP card that entitles them to discounts and remaining young forever. “I won’t grow up,” as Peter sang, sounds good, but as boomers know, the inevitable aches and pains of aging slow them down — we do grow up and the trick becomes doing it as gracefully as possible.
According to a 1996 survey, boomers believed old age began at age 79 — and at that time life expectancy was just over 76 years. As Smith and Clurman point out in Generation Ageless, boomers literally thought they’d die before they got old. “Boomers are not going to give up their aspirations for youthfulness,” Smith says. “It is the defining characteristic of the boomer sensibility.”
The fact that the boomers are “coming of old age” at a time when life expectancy is lengthening may pose some demographic and economic challenges. But many sociologists and gerontologists believe the generation that refuses to grow up can change — in healthy ways — how Americans think about aging.
As of 1998, it was reported that, as a generation, boomers had tended to avoid discussions and planning for their demise and avoided much long-term planning. However, beginning at least as early as that year, there has been a growing dialogue on how to manage aging and end-of-life issues as the generation ages. In particular, a number of commentators have argued that boomers are in a state of denial regarding their own aging and death and are leaving an undue economic burden on their children for their retirement and care.
Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures, a group that seeks to link seniors with job opportunities, states, “I’m convinced that 60 is the new 60 — that we’re actually inventing a new stage of life now between the end of midlife careers and true old age and retirement.”
What are some of the advantages to aging gracefully?
WISDOM and EXPERIENCE. There is a lot to be said for gaining life experiences. Though our children may not like to hear “when I was your age,” the truth is hindsight is 20/20. Sometimes the best way to his learn is through the mistakes you make. Michael Bloomberg says that he would not be where he is today if he had not been fired from Salomon Brothers. It opened other opportunities for him that led to his becoming a self-made billionaire and — in his more mature years — the opportunity to become a three-term mayor of New York City and a political player on the world stage.
Maturity can also bring a new FREEDOM, without the responsibilities of children, college tuition, and in some cases, through retirement or a reduced workload: the opportunity to travel and see the world; jump out of an airplane (as President George H. W. Bush likes to do on significant birthdays); learn a new skill; start a new hobby; take piano or voice lessons; start checking things off your “bucket list.” These all become easier to accomplish with the luxury of free time.
To learn more about the advantages of maturity, spend an hour or stay for the day at the Fourth Annual JVS Creative Maturity Expo, Redefining Life’s Potential, on Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Aidekman campus, Whippany. Featured speaker will be Mary Alice Williams, a highly acclaimed broadcast journalist and Emmy-winning former anchor of NBC’s Nightly News. Author of Quiet Triumphs, Williams will speak about “Grey Matter Matters: Make the Most of Your Experiences in Work and Play.”
Families and caregivers needing answers to broader eldercare questions or help with community resources can contact Elderlink — a portal to all MetroWest services for older adults and their families. Elderlink can be reached at 973-765-9050 or elderlink@jfsmetrowest.org.
If you go
What: The fourth annual Creative Maturity Expo of Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest. The event, geared to adults 50 and over, will offer a wide array of seminars and talks led by area experts; a Conductorcise session for a sound workout for mind, body, and soul; and one-on-one sessions with JVS career counselors. Health screenings for a wide variety of conditions and information on pain management and other health maintenance strategies will also be offered throughout the day.
Where: Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus, Whippany
When: Sunday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Registration opens at 9:30 a.m.
Cost: Free
Information: Contact Jayne Waltzer at jwaltzer@jvsnj.org or 973-674-6330, ext. 311, or visit www.jvsnj.org.
Comments
Ed Gagnon
November 15, 2010
I Am Old
Aging and death is a law of physics that has affected all living beings since the beginning of time. Humanity has no influence over the inevitability of this law, but we do have some impact over how we cope with this natural process. For many people, the feelings associated with aging and impending death are un-inspiring. We spend our last years surrounded by feelings of anger, sorrow, fear and regret. Too few people realize that we do not have to be the victim of these feelings; and in fact, can change these feelings by changing our actions.
Anyone at any time can create a meaningful life that is inspiring and fulfilling. We merely need to do things that have meaning. Even as we near death, it is possible to change fear into confidence, anger into contentment, sorrow into happiness and regret into satisfaction. Old age can be a celebration of life.
Self-examination of our core values, trueness to these values, and the establishment of a legacy of which we can be proud, are our means toward inspiring feelings. This path, that chooses to create a meaningful life by living a life that has meaning, can begin at any age. This path can transform us from victims of our past life to creators of our current and future lives.
Aging and death is inevitable – how we feel about aging and death is not. We have the ability to make our final years our best and most meaningful years. It is a matter of choice – a matter of common sense.
For more on this subject, go to:
www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/IAmOld.html