Agism, being sidelined, becoming the subject of bias, feeling left out or irrelevant.
Wisdom, experience, seniority, being taken more seriously, good earning power.
Which ‘old age’ are you facing into?
Well I’m not here to discuss either – both are real and both are happening, but today I just want to share what I have lovingly called in my title, the joys of aging. On a very superficial level and on an existential level there is very little to recommend getting older, luckily however I am neither that deep nor that shallow so I feel free to share with you here my ‘glass half full’ take on the benefits of getting older.
- Grandchildren – Definitely top of the tree and leaving everything else trailing in its wake! I have two amazing granddaughters (with hopefully more kiddies to follow in the years ahead) and nothing compares to the joys they bring. In fact, I could stop right there and claim to have lived a full life!!
- A great network – Being on the planet as long as I have means I have met thousands of people; needless to say I don’t even remember them all but on the other hand many are life-long friends. And in between are the myriad of friends, colleagues, classmates, teammates, clients, suppliers and connections from the many networks I have been a part of. It’s a wonderful resource; one I am always happy to try and help, and therefore one I am also happy to take help from!
- Great memories – Like everyone I have had bad moments and bad days, and even an occasional bad client, but they all pale into insignificance standing alongside the wonderful memories of good times, golf games, wins and laughs.
- Being a grumpy old man – This is rapidly turning into the best one! I seem to have licence to rail against everything and I love to annoy my kids and anyone under the age of 40 by pointing out how wrong everything is and how daft things like social media are – I sit in front of the TV giving out constantly about the content and the presentation (especially news and current affairs) and so on and so on; and it’s great fun! Here’s a list of things that are ‘beyond me’…..
- TV soaps – they are all dire without exception, and why would anybody want to watch a show that will never end!!!
- Facetube / Snapgram / Instatok etc. – Nobody cares what anybody anywhere has ever had to eat, what they are wearing, what holiday they are on, people need to realise this!
- Reality TV – do I need to say anything…..?
- Architecture – there is nothing nice about houses with flat roofs or those covered in cladding, and don’t get me started on Dermot Bannon…….
- Cosmetic surgery (and hair transplants) – be happy and don’t waste your money on trying to change who you are
I think we can all choose the life we have led; we can dredge up all the setbacks, knocks and hard-luck stories that have beset us or we can recall the highs, the wins, the families, the good health, clean water and shelter and decide that this is the life we have enjoyed. I choose the latter, but I reserve the right to be grumpy about it!