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My friend Mike recently suggested that instead of calling ourselves old, we should call ourselves “Older.” That makes me an Older Woman. I like that, but older than what? Older than dirt? (Sorry—couldn’t resist.)
I don’t feel all that old, though, even though I just celebrated my 73rd birthday. My husband Jerry is nearly 80, and he still rides his mountain bike over 20 miles at least three times a week. Not bad for an Older Man. In fact, he’s been the oldest rider in the Lutsen 99’er for the past six races. This year he pedaled 29 grueling miles, though he’d biked longer races in the past. We display a wall of wooden hatchet awards to prove his mettle.
Being Older isn’t all that bad, you know. I read online that the most productive time of life is between 60 and 70, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Well, you know what? I double-checked that information on Snopes, and though it sounds great, it’s FALSE. BUMMER!!! As I’ve said before, check your facts.
What I did find, though, is that studies have shown that the last half of life is the most rewarding. I’ll buy that. Another little-known fact is that the average age of a Nobel Prize winner is nearly 60. The oldest Laureate ever is American Scientist John B. Goodenough (love that name), who was awarded the prize at age 97. An Older Man.
Incidentally, the youngest Nobel Prize winner was Malal Yousafzai, who was 17 when she won the prize in 2014. If you haven’t read Malala yet, I highly recommend it. Sadly, she’s one of few female Nobel laureates. 58 women have been awarded less than 6 percent of the total 943 Nobel Prizes so far.
But I digress. Back to being an Older Person.
What’s so good about getting older anyway?
First, of course, is that most of us are retired and not tied to a 40-hour work week. We get to choose where to put our energies, whether it’s exercise, reading, volunteering, or watching football. Some even choose to go back to work. We get to mete out our time on our own terms, and I like that.
I also feel less stressed by things that once bothered me. I’ve become more accepting of people and situations that used to push my buttons. I don’t know if that’s the case for everyone, but I sure appreciate it.
As a final note to being an Older Person, the Gerontological Society of America published a study where they delineated these 14 advantages of aging:
• lower criminal activity (I never did much of that in any case.)
• greater political participation (ABSOLUTELY!)
• increasing voluntary organization participation (That would be me.)
• increasing work abilities (Maybe…)
• increasing visual perception abilities (Really?)
• less criminal victimization (So far, so good)
• less accidents (Well…)
• social security (Thank goodness!)
• other pensions (Lucky me!)
• guaranteed minimum income (According to whom?)
• tax benefits (Well, with less income)
• Medicare (Another Thank Goodness!)
• free programs and reduced rates (LOVE the National Parks Senior Pass)
• freedom from child rearing and work (Whew!)
So—who’s complaining about being an Older Person? Not me!
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