How To Age Like A Bottle Of Fine Wine
10 Life adjustments on your inevitable journey
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Every dorm room in my college featured a small whiteboard and dry erase marker outside the door. It was a useful tool to communicate with your roommate or nearby friends.
“Headed to the bar.”
“Staying at my girlfriend’s tonight.”
“Meet you in study hall at 7.”
The dorm room whiteboard was how we messaged each other before the age of cell phones.
My History of Rock N Roll professor (yes, I took that class) was in his fifties, but he rocked the attitude and demeanor of a twenty-something. I couldn’t imagine being that old back then, but he was the kind of “old person” I admired.
On the other end of the spectrum, you see folks in their sixties and seventies, spending their hours clutching a pillow to their chest, watching cable news all day, and sinking deeper and deeper into a crabby, fearful state.
Why do some folks age like fine wine while others age sour milk?
Nobody aspires to reach the old-age mindset, but it sneaks up on you. I first felt the tug in my early forties. I was out for brunch after a run with a group of younger folks. Someone commented about a political issue, and I thought it was the most naive, idealistic crap I’d ever heard.
I kept my opinion to myself, but it later occurred to me that it was the kind of thing an older person would have said to me twenty years earlier.
It was a sign of aging, and it scared the shit out of me. I’ve made changes since then to keep my body and mind youthful. All of these techniques are simple and straightforward. And they’re good for you at any age.
1) Observe, record and question
You will live a life full of victories, defeats, joy, pain, peace, and tumult. Too many folks learn nothing from these experiences.
Record your life in a journal; any kind will do. Keep your musings private. It ensures you’ll write with complete honesty.
Question your actions. Challenge yourself to think of how you could do better next time. Only by critically examining your life can…
