Is 60 the New 40? – How Old Are You?
In my current series on aging and attitudes on aging, I’ve been wondering if 60 really is the new 40. I’ve been one of those people who refuse to let my age define me once I crossed over that magical 30 mark, haha. (This is a throwback to a comment I made in this article.) But you know what I mean. It totally frustrates me to be limited, or to have others limit me, especially to have others put limits on me. “Oh, you don’t think I can? Watch me!”
I have friends who simply decide they can’t do something anymore because they’re “old”. I may never have thought of that person as being old, and yet they’re self-identifying. It can be something as simple as, “Women over 40 shouldn’t wear long hair.” Have you heard that one? Or, “Older women shouldn’t show their arms or wear tank-tops.”
It’s Not About Age
Some women blame their age when the issue is really their fitness. “Oh, I used to love to ski, but I’m too old for that now.” We don’t hit a magical age where we are too old to ski, dance, or do handstands. But the truth is, if you don’t do something regularly you do hit a point where you can’t do it anymore. Then you have to either work your strength back (such as after an injury or illness), or if you don’t want to work that hard, then choose to not do it anymore. But it’s not your age that’s the limit. It’s your physical fitness, your stamina, or your mindset that limits you. If we continue to work at something, we’ll be able to do it well into our years.
It’s Never Too Late
My daughter was an athlete. She was invited to several official college visits in her junior year of high school and received four track scholarship offers, via Fed Ex, on the first day coaches were allowed to make offers. She was a very disciplined athlete and was an honors student with a GPA above 4.0 from weighted classes. Even though she earned a business degree, she chose to become a personal trainer after college. This fit her determination and drive perfectly.
After college, she gave up running for quite some time. She chose to stay fit in the gym. Then one day, years later, she started running again. My daughter had never been a long-distance runner. She was an extended sprinter. She was an excellent 400m, 4 x 400m, and 800m runner. But she was not a distance runner. She did not run cross-country in the off-season.
Stretching Her Comfort Zone
Shortly before her 40th birthday, she started running distances. She ran a few 5k, and 10k races. Not long after, she started running half, then full marathons. To celebrate her 40th birthday, she decided to run a half-marathon a month for the full year after turning 40. She did well in them, too, and was seeded toward the front in each successive race.
Toward the end of that year, she seemed to get bored with the half-marathons and started mixing up her training. My kid, who had never been one to ride a bike, or to swim (other than to play Marco Polo in the family pool) started training for a triathlon. It wasn’t enough to run multiple half-marathons in a year. She became a triathlete. My daughter finished in the top in her age category in her first triathlon sprint and went on to compete in an Ironman competition. She is still training and plans to compete in several more triathlons.
My point in sharing all of this with you is that she did not limit herself by her age. She was 40 when she began training for triathlons. She was nearly 40 when she began running again. Despite the fact that she is a wife, mother of two, and works outside the home, she’s a fierce competitor. It does take work, and perhaps more stamina as we age. But, barring any true physical ailment, we should be able to build new skills and continue to be active well into our old age.
So What is Old Age?
Attitudes on when someone is old depends on who is asked, as humorously depicted in this AARP video of what millennials think is old. The good news is these attitudes can be easily changed. I especially loved what one of the older men said, “When people start stopping, that’s when they start getting old.”
Certainly, if you think you are old, you are. Or maybe you’re responding to what society says about you. Here’s how different groups defined “old” according to the 2017 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth & Worth report:
But First, Middle Age
According to the Oxford English Dictionary middle age is between about 45 and 65. The US Census lists the category middle age from 45 to 65, as well.
Encyclopedia Britannica has this interesting insight: “Middle age, period of human adulthood that immediately precedes the onset of old age. Though the age period that defines middle age is somewhat arbitrary, differing greatly from person to person, it is generally defined as being between the ages of 40 and 60. The physiological and psychological changes experienced by a middle-aged person center on the gradual decline of physical abilities and the awareness of mortality. In middle age, the relative potencies of past, present, and future are altered as the individual increasingly directs effort to the process of reminiscence and recollection of the past, rather than anticipation of the future. If approached constructively, middle age can prepare an individual for a satisfying and productive old age.”
Yold: the Young Old
According to the Economist, 2020 is the year of the yold, or the “young old”, as the Japanese call them. Since the Boomers will reach 65 between 2020 and 2025, people assume a mass exodus of intellectual capital from the halls of corporate America. “One might therefore expect peak retirement for baby-boomers in the coming years—except that they are not retiring. By continuing to work, and staying socially engaged, the boomers, in their new guise as the young old, will change the world, as they have done several times before at different stages of their lives.” I like that, don’t you? Let’s change the world! It certainly needs our help.
So, Is 60 the New 40?
After a day and a half of research, I’m basically no closer to answering the question “Is 60 the new 40” than when I started, except to say that research overwhelmingly supports that people are healthier and wealthier in their 60’s and beyond, than any other generation before them. If we keep ourselves active, eat right, and keep socially and intellectually engaged, we stay “younger”. I, for one, feel as young as I did 20 years ago.
So sisters, don’t start stopping. Keep making plans, take your walks, eat your greens, use that sunscreen. I look forward to enjoying life with you for decades to come!
What’s your secret to staying young? Drop us a note, below.
