Yes, we are growing older. In a time when we are told to look younger, act younger, dress in a younger fashion but appropriate to our age, and gain back our young appearance and body, we are still growing older. There are several theories as to why we age. It might be that cells are programmed to dies after a certain number of divisions. Another theory says that time itself will wear a cell out, just by sheer usage repetitively. A physiological theory speculates that organs age and wear out. Probably we age because of a combination of these three factors. It also seems clear that aging is not a disease. Everyone ages and everyone seems to inherit a particular life span. It is also assumed that stress is the most important factor in the environment that will affect aging.

There are three models of aging. One proposes that after a certain point of maximum functioning there progressive and inevitable decline of abilities. Another suggests that some of the increasing declines in certain abilities as one ages can be overcome with interventions. Most researchers, however, believe in a stability model which says that once a person achieves his/her level of maturity behavior remains stable. Each of the theories as to why we age and these three models of aging all suggest that as one ages one declines and loses something. The culture, with its emphasis on youth, seems to want to fight against the inevitable and hold on to that which is passing, youth.

It is true that in the areas of sensory and psychomotor areas losses will happen. The rate of decline of abilities varies from person to person, and from one person to another. It is also trues that the person can compensate in some ways. While some sensory and psychomotor loss may occur verbal facility may increase. As some other examples, cited in the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, “Hearing impairments are the most common and most debilitating of sensory losses, but only occur in twenty-six percent of persons over age seventy-five. Reaction time increases with age, as does cautiousness, but generalized creative endeavors increase through the sixth and seventh decades.” Even the fear of loss of memory is greater than the actual loss itself. 

It is no wonder that there is so much emphasis on staying young when the prevailing attitude of aging is of decline and loss. It is not only fear of decline and loss that often drives us want to stay young but it is fear of our own mortality. The older we get the closer we come to the end of our own lives. When our parents decline and then die we have the feeling that we are next. Death is inevitable. But the richness of life and what we can do will be cramped if we fall victim either to the fear of aging or to an unrealistic sense of trying to stay young.


What to do to navigate these waters? Know that the largest group in our population is nearing retirement. So, be responsible in how you manage your life. Eat well, get exercise, get regular check ups. But pay attention to what you do with your life. Where and how do you find meaning and what is meaningful for you. The older person fears isolation, lack of meaning in his/her life. The older person fears being ignored, and fear becoming useless. How we age is in large part influenced by how we have lived as younger people. Many of the faith traditions and major world philosophies expound the virtues of aging. We are in danger, with the overstated emphasis on youth, of realizing that with age comes wisdom and the ability to advise, counsel and mentor those who are coming along after us. If the younger generations, who are also aging, fail to acknowledge the inevitability of the aging process they will not be able to take advantage of the experience and knowledge of those who have gone before. Perhaps instead of staying young we want to stay active, healthy and engaged in life, even as we grow older.

This article first appeared in the Observer & Eccentric.

Return to Thoughts & Inspirations