Getting old? Think again!

A new year. A new decade. Feeling old? Well don’t. Because here is something for you to think about.  Larry Miller has a very interesting observation and he says:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids?

If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions. “How old are you?” “I’m four and a half.” You’re never 36 and a half... you’re four and a half going on five!

You get into your teens; now they can’t hold you back. You jump into the next number. “How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16.”

Then the great day of your life; you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. You BECOME 21... Yes!!!

Then you turn 30. What happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. HE TURNED; we had to throw him out. What’s wrong? What changed?

You BECOME 21; you TURN 30; you’re PUSHING 40; you REACH 50; then you MAKE it to 60.

By then, you’ve built up so much speed, you HIT 70. After that, it’s a day by day thing. You HIT Wednesday...

You get into your 80’s; you HIT lunch, you HIT 4:30. My grandmother won’t even buy green bananas. “Well, it’s an investment, you know, and maybe a bad one.” And it doesn’t end there... Into the 90’s, you start going backwards. “I was JUST 92.”

Then a strange thing happens; if you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half.”

I feel that a lot of people are retiring too early. Longevity is now extending, and it is not uncommon to see people getting into their 90’s, isn’t it?

In his book, Coming Home, James Dobson notes that Immanuel Kant wrote one of his most famous philosophical works at age 74; Verdi was still composing when he was 85. When he completed The Pieta, his greatest work of art, Michelangelo was 87; and Ronald Reagan was the most powerful man in the world as president of the United States at age 75. Instead of 65 being the presumed age for retirement, it ought to be seen as the age when a lifetime of learning is focused on new achievement.

Consider the following biblical figures over the age of 80 who were still going strong: Abraham becoming a father and raising his son Isaac; Moses and Aaron leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the Promised Land… The fact is, the older we get, the more accumulated wisdom and perspective we should have to bring to bear on new goals. Regardless of your age, consider replacing “retirement” with “transition” in your vocabulary. See life as a continual process of moving from one accomplishment to the next with God as your guide.

If you are a teenager, you are continually inventing yourself. Frightening, but at the same time exciting. You have an entire world to conquer. By the time you hit 50, you do not want change; you want some stability. Most have given up on conquering the world. “Been there, done that and gotten the T-shirt.” You now want stability more than anything else. You have invested so much in your skills, career, competence, and identity. The harder you have worked on yourself, the more you do not want to let go of it.1 

But here now is the key to understanding modern-day life. In the 21st century, you cannot afford stability. Life expectancy would increase. You do not want to stay a fossil. Now you need to still reinvent yourself and stay relevant. Change passes you by so quickly that you cannot afford to keep still. Continue to learn new things. Continue to be productive. And as I keep saying in my seminars, “Good people do not retire, they refire!” They continue to enjoy life and to experiment with new things: only this time, minus the hurry and the stress. Write a book. Teach a class. Serve in church and be productive. Pray not because you are cramming for the final exams, but because you are thankful life is a beautiful adventure for you to explore.

They say that age does not matter. Of course, it does. You’re not a tree. But you make it matter by living a productive life and not by being dependent on others. 

Richard J. Needham says, “For the first half of your life, people tell you what you should do; for the second half, they tell you what you should have done.” Here’s a better suggestion for you if you belong to the second half. Amaze them with what you can still do.

(Francis Kong’s much awaited and highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership 2020 Edition runs on Jan. 29 and 30 at the new wing of Seda Hotel, BGC. Attend the two-day inspiring and effective seminar workshop. For further inquiries or advanced reservations contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)

1 Larry Miller on Aging (G) - Jokeindex. http://jokeindex.com/joke.asp?Joke=1788-