What aspects of ageing do see as a privilege, or what positive experiences have you gained with age?
@Zukiswa’s recent piece got me thinking about how we perceive and experience ageing. She makes a compelling case for shifting our mindset, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
This piece was really emotive. Thank you for writing it @Zukiswa
“Do not complain about growing old. It is a privilege denied to many.” Rings so true to me.
This is a song I keep coming back to when I think about how I live my life and spend the time I have.
One day, baby, we’ll be old
Oh, baby, we’ll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told
I hope to have the chance to get ‘old’ and have stories worthy of telling.
Yes loved it @Zukiswa. I never read that Maya Angelou piece before - very pertinent for my daughter right now he cries at the thought of growing up 
(Who can blame her?)
Meryl Streep once said: “Aging is not for the weak. One day you wake up and realize that your youth is gone, but along with it, so go insecurity, haste, and the need to please… You learn to walk more slowly, but with greater certainty. You say goodbye without fear, and you cherish those who stay. Aging means letting go, it means accepting, it means discovering that beauty was never in our skin… but in the story we carry inside us.”
So true. I turned 60 a few months ago and the best part of aging is the joy of living in the moment and not letting the tribulations of the past or fear of the future get to you. Freedom from angst is the best thing ever.
We have a bunch of incredibly inspiring stories in this week’s Roaring Retirement magazine in our weekly DM168 newspaper. People in their sixties and seventies who have found new purpose in teaching, saving animals, being creative, volunteering, exploring the world… plus we have ground breaking research on the secrets to a long, healthy and fulfilling life. Here is a sneak peek of our beautiful front page cover designed by Jocelyn Adamson -please encourage all your friends and family to look out for this week’s edition.
José Luis Ricchetti’s *PATHS OF TIME* resonated for me …..
There is a silence that comes with the years, and it is not made only of the absence of noise, but of the smooth transition between what we were and what we become. At 60, you begin to feel the subtlety of distancing. The room that once pulsated with your ideas now seems full of voices that no longer ask for your opinion. It is not a rejection, it is the rhythm of life. It is when we learn that our contribution is not in the immediate present, but in the traces we leave in hearts and minds along the way.
At 65, you realize that the corporate world, once so vital, is a ceaseless flow. It continues, indifferent to what you did or did not do. It is not a defeat, it is liberation. This is the time to look at yourself, to strip away the ego and put on serenity. It is no longer about proving, but about teaching, about sharing, about mentoring. True achievement is not that which is displayed, but that which inspires.
At 70, society seems to forget this, but really? Maybe it is just an invitation to re-evaluate what really matters. Young people will not recognize you for what you were, and that is a blessing in disguise: now you can be just who you are. No masks, no titles, just the essence. Old friends, those who do not ask “who you were” but “how are you,” become precious jewels, diamonds that shine in the twilight of life.
And then, at 80 or 90, it is the family that, in its haste, moves a little further away. But that is where wisdom embraces us tightly. We understand that love is not possession; it is freedom. Your children, your grandchildren, go on with their lives, as you go on with yours. Physical distance does not diminish affection, but teaches that true love is generous, not demanding.
When the Earth finally calls you, there is no reason to fear. It is the last dance of a natural cycle, the closing of a chapter written with sweat, tears, laughter and memories. But what remains, what will never really be erased, are the marks we leave on the souls we touch.
Therefore, as long as there is breath, energy, as long as the heart beats, live intensely. Embrace encounters, laugh out loud, enjoy the simple and complex pleasures of life. Cultivate your friendships as one who cares for a garden. Because, in the end, what remains are not the achievements, nor the titles, nor the applause. What remains are the bonds, the moments shared, the light we spread.
Be light, be presence, and you will be eternal.
I dedicate this to all those who understand that time does not erase, but only transforms.
José Luis Ricchetti
