This month the topic for our podcast club is ageism. We heard many startling statistics about how many have experienced it, and how it starts much younger than we think, thanks to the anti-aging industrial complex, where youth is equated with better, and aging is bad for us and to be avoided at all costs.
I heard one piece of advice, which LT Taylor, author of Aging Out Loud, calls a micro-action. It is to start telling your age. I used to do this and was told by so many people to shush. But I’m going back to telling my age and here’s why.
Too often aging is misrepresented as being old and decrepit and past your prime. Only 15% of people portrayed in media are over 60, and when they are included, they are often sitting at home watching television or at the doctor’s office.
I’m 63 years old and I go to Orange Theory three times a week where I row, run on a treadmill, and lift weights for 55 minutes with nary a moment of rest. There are a few who are my age, but the vast majority are ten to thirty years younger.
I travel around the world facilitating leadership programs once or twice a month, in heels, on my feet, often for 10 hours a day.
I write my own blog and post on social media every week.
And I’m no unicorn…my contemporaries are living equally vibrant lives with vitality.
It’s got me thinking, perhaps we all have an outdated view of what aging looks like. So, I’m telling people this is what 63 looks like, at least for me.
Try this ONE thing
What if we took a moment to question how we view aging? Does it align with the seniors we know?
It’s time to recast our view of aging. After all, we’re all doing it every minute.
Hey! Are you already successful and accomplished? Do you have many things to appreciate about your life right now? Are you always open to learning more and growing yourself?
Despite all your successes, do you sometimes doubt yourself? Do you hesitate to go after what you really want in life?
Or maybe you dismiss your past successes, putting them down to luck, and don’t really see how extraordinary you really are?
If this sounds like you, you and I should have a conversation. Drop me a line here, karen.laidlaw.theONEthing@outlook.com, and let’s talk!