Getting Better With Age

Publisher Frances Lear said, “I can sit next to a man who has on his other side a gorgeous twenty-five-year-old, and he’ll talk to me, because I’m much more interesting.”

Why? Because this belief helps you feel positive about getting older and about yourself.

Think back to when you were forty years younger. Remember what you thought was important and how you spent your time. Does it seem a little immature now? Would you want to trade your maturity now for your maturity then? Why not?

Consider an analogy with computers. Thirty years ago you could do things a little faster (megahertz) but your hard drive had far less information and far fewer programs. Now you have a wealth of information and programs in your hard drive. Would you want to trade speed for hard drive data and programs?

Of course getting better with age doesn’t happen automatically. As employers say, you can have thirty years of experience or one year of experience thirty times. But if you are continually learning and growing, you have paid the price of admission and are indeed getting better with age.

Learning can come from taking classes, reading books, intelligent conversation, some radio or television programs, role models, or pursuing special interests. Even pastimes like crossword puzzles and playing bridge keep our memories and minds sharp. If we decide we value always learning, our brains seek opportunities to learn and grow just as a hungry person sees food everywhere. If we stop learning, we are telling ourselves to put our seats and trays in their upright position to prepare for our final descent.

Growth isn’t limited to intellectual learning. It also involves increased maturity. It means having more perspective on problems, being more accepting of others, and being slower to anger or criticize.

In the presidential debate when Ronald Reagan was asked about his age, he quipped, “I won’t hold my opponent’s lack of experience against him.” The remark helped people appreciate the advantages of his age and helped him win the election.

Better with age is sometimes used as a hollow phrase. It can, however, be very true. Not only do many people get better with time, in surveys older people report being happier than younger people.

Further, advances in healthcare are helping us function younger at chronologically older and older ages. Disability rates have declined 1-2% a year since the government started collecting data in 1982. Dentures used to be common by age 60 and are now become rare at any age for people who have had good dental care. Tiny digital hearing aids give much improved sound. Lasik and laser surgery to correct visual problems has become commonplace. Finally, we know a lot more about how to care for our health and have far more resources than even a decade ago.

As the Beatles put it musically, “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better–It’s getting better all the time.” Or, as Robert Browning put it, “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. The last of life, for which the first was made.”