60 IS NOT THE NEW 40

Where did we get the idea that the new 60 is the new 40? I can’t stand such hype. The new 60 is the new 60, which means we wake up with as many aches and pains as those before us. Ruined knees, back aches, lost teeth. If we work out, eat well and take good care of ourselves, perhaps we are blessed with a bit less external hurts and scars. More and more of us look similar with higher foreheads, pulled skin and expensively erased life and laughter lines. We keep Botox in business Horrible poison stuff that too many of us trust. BOTULINUM TOXIN (Why don’t I own their drug stock?)

With 60, 65, 70 and more years of living we have earned our wisdom. So maybe many of us look different-sort of. I certainly don’t recognize half of once familiar faces in media because after a certain age they have neither wrinkles nor any defining characteristic.

Yet, we have gained knowledge about perseverance, joy, commitment, heartbreak and love, parenting, grand parenting, illness and death. If we are fortunate we have also learned the preciosness of embracing joyful moments knowing all too well their fleeting and ephemeral quality.

We knew none of this at 40. So damn it. Let’s get real 40 is 40. 60 is 60. And we pioneers are finding our own new paths to what age in today’s world can mean.
Doing so takes fortitude and courage. Let’s give ourselves some applause. No one else will.