It’s Time to Re-Frame the Way We Think About Aging

It’s common to hear people complain about getting older, but aging isn’t all bad. A positive attitude towards aging can go a long way towards finding happiness in retirement. There are plenty of things that get better with age, like a fine wine, so why not you too? Here are some wise words that can help us re-frame the way we think about aging.

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.”
-David Bowie

David Bowie was one of those celebrities who refused to retire and continued to produce music in his later years and retained a youthful energy. This wasn’t because he wanted to go backward – he said, “If you are pining for youth, I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist.”[1]

“I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.”[2]
-Albert Einstein

It’s unclear why Einstein would have been opposed to wearing socks, but the spirit of his message rings true. Research shows that older adults feel more comfortable expressing themselves rather than feeling constrained by social norms. At a certain point, you’ve learned enough to feel confident in expressing your views and know that younger people have no business telling you to stop.

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”
-Robert Browning

The poet and playwright Robert Browning produced his most enduring work in middle age and after. His positive attitude towards aging was arguably less warranted during the Victorian era in which he lived than it would be now – in a time when medical advancements make aging far easier. His words are especially true of those who are retiring and have so much to look forward to in that new phase of life.

“For the unlearned, old age is winter; For the learned, it is the season of harvest.”
-The Talmud

Traditionally, spring is associated with youth, summer with adolescence, and winter with old age. But what about autumn? If your post-retirement life is your autumn, it can be filled with enjoying the fruits of your labor. Enjoying the money you’ve earned over a long career, more free time, and your family and friends is your right in retirement.