How Will You Grow Old?

Excerpt from Daily Cures, Wisdom for Healthy Aging by Connie Mason Michaelis

This picture is of myself, on the right, next to my mother and two sisters.

Have you ever said, “I’ll never act that way when I get old?”  Hopefully, you’ve said, “I want to be just like that when I grow old!”  Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living.  Self-examination may be the one way to escape the repetition of behaviors we don’t like while embracing the ones we want to emulate.  What do you want the journey to look like as you grow old?  Will Rogers said, “Everyone wants to live a long time, but no one wants to get old!”  Do you expect to reach 100?  If you are 65 today and in relatively good health, there is a good chance you’ll make 100.  So what will you be like?  Will you go with change, or will you dig your heels in to keep the status quo? 

My mom went through a number of changes.  She was widowed at 51 years old and continued to run the family business for 15 years. Then between the ages of 70 and 80, she drove by herself to McAllen, TX, to spend the winters. She still maintained her home and lived independently for another ten years after that.  So, at 90, what was the next challenge going to be?  She had already changed the paradigm several times.  That was when we started talking about moving to an independent living apartment.  Mom was so strong and self-reliant, but she was willing to make that change. Mom inspires me now, even though she is gone.  I know now how difficult change can be.  I’m one who can say, “I want to be like my mom when I grow old!”