‘Aging Up’ But Not Growing Old

All of us need to come to the realization that we’re going to grow old one day, though what we think of as aging is probably far different than what it actually can be if we take care of ourselves. Truthfully, growing old doesn’t mean you have to ‘grow old’ and, as Germaine Greer observed; ‘You’re only young once, but you can be immature forever.’ That’s a good philosophy to have.

What that means is that we may only have a limited number of years on a calendar where we’re considered ‘young, ‘ but we have a lifetime to be as youthful as we want to be. We can go out and buy that really nice electric guitar we always wanted and learn how to play it even if we might be a southpaw, for example. Not to worry, though; a quality left handed electric guitar can always be had quite easily.

It really doesn’t matter what you do as you age up, because it’s more important that you just get up and do something to keep moving and stay active. Your body may try to convince you that it’s far better to sit on the porch, soaking up the sun and drying out like a raisin, but it’s only trying to trick you into stopping whatever it is you’re doing.

Consider that you might be feeling a twinge every once in a while from that leg arthritis you developed as a result of some broken bone you end up getting from a skateboard accident when you were younger. There are certainly ways to manage such arthritis and it really doesn’t mean that this so-called ‘infirmity of age’ needs to do much of anything to keep you from moving around.

Also, there’s a universe of therapies and modalities out there that exist to help us as we age up. They can be a great way to keep youth from escaping us as we add chronological years to our lives. So, head over to that big outlet store for a jumbo size bottle of Kirkland glucosamine, power down a bunch of them every day and get out there and do something to keep going.

Now, you won’t be the all-American athlete you once were but you’ll certainly be able to understand what George Bernard Shaw said about aging. He once pointed out that he believed that we don’t stop playing because we get older but that we get older because we stop playing. As far as a philosophy of life goes, old George really knew what he was talking about.

Always keep in mind that there are a number of things you can do that can help you stay ‘young’ even though you might not chronologically be even close to being so. Get up, move around, go get a new guitar and learn how to play it and — this is very important — learn to live and laugh as deeply and as enthusiastically as you can. You’ll sure stay young that way, it must be said.