Senior to Senior: Acting Your Age

Act your age! Seniors heard that a lot when they were growing up. It usually meant that they (we) were doing some dangerous, outrageous, or downright dumb. At 60,70, 80 and beyond, you are probably sick and tired of being told that you should “act your age.” Acting your age had a different meaning now. Some still think that you need to be somber, staid, and reasonable, but isn’t it more important to be smart, relative, and well informed? In our minds eye, parents and grandparents were the old and wise ones, but for some reason we didn’t want to be like “them.” We wanted to go our own way, even if it only meant not watching game shows or going to bed by 6:30. You are not alone if you want to redefine what “acting your age” really means. Seriously, despite physical limitations (how you look or feel) you are still the same person you have always been. It is important to stop perceiving yourself as old. You may look a little crumpled and outdated, but if you are doing your best and have taken reasonably good care of you yourself, you are just fine. Be as young as you feel, or as young as you want to feel. Go for it. Studies show that this is important. You must stop referring to yourself in the third person, laughing at jokes about age, or using your age as an excuse when you don’t want to go somewhere or do something. Stand up for yourself and be honest; admit that you just don’t want to do that. The only excuse you need is that you already have “plans.” Having plans is the real issue, isn’t it? You need to have plans. A plan can mean anything from watching a favorite program, reading a book, working in your garden or just taking a nap. Life is too short to let other people’s dictate how you should behave. Oh, and if “they” shake their heads and say you are in your second childhood, laugh, and acknowledge that they might be right. A second childhood is not a bad thing after all, especially if the first one wasn’t all that great. This is your last chance to do it right, no matter what your age. .