IN THE FIRST PART of the 20th century, the average life expectancy was only 45 years. Today, the average life expectancy has increased to 78.6 years. With the added 33 years to our life expectancy, we need to work toward a new image of aging, one that includes active, productive, vital years that are full of love, laughter, and intimacy.
Satchel Paige once asked, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” This question is an important one for each of us to think about. Our birthday doesn’t always reflect how old we are. What’s important is how young we feel.
America’s youth-focused culture has made it hard for many of us to feel good about the aging process. For example, we commonly want others to believe we are younger than our true age. However, there is good news for us in America. We have begun to develop a new attitude about aging. Our ideas about getting old are old! Through new discoveries, we are learning that how we age is not only a function of our years, but also a function of our attitude.
Mickey Mantle said, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” Scientists who study aging have made the remarkable discovery that most of the changes commonly associated with old people are really not dependent on the passage of time, but rather they result from disuse of our minds and bodies.
It can be said that we are largely responsible for our old age. It may surprise you that scientists say that only 30% of the characteristics of aging are based on genetics. Genetics plays the greatest role in health characteristics very early in life. The scientists tell us that about 70% of the characteristics of aging are based on the choices we make every day—our personal lifestyle choices.
What’s important is not how old we actually are, but how we are old. The trick is to shift our focus from staying young to aging with good health and vitality. Our attitude and our sense of control over our lives is the key in determining whether we just add years to our life or we add life to those years.
Daniel J. Jachimiak, BA, is a feature writer, journalist, and speaker. Dan can be reached at djachimiak@bex.net or 419787-2036. You can have a better life. ✲
