Ageless With a Well-developed Funny Bone

Laugh and Live Long

Image courtesy of Canva.com

Ageless With a Well-developed Funny Bone

For me, agelessness or being devoid of a sense of age can be linked to having a positive mindset. It means not feeling anchored in any specific stage of life. This is how I feel now, which is not very different from the way I felt in my thirties or forties. There seems to be no change. Age really is just a number to be ignored as much as possible.

Books or films specifically for older people don’t particularly appeal to me. Obviously, keeping up with what’s going on in the world of the older generation is vital. After all, I’m part of it and pleased to be so. The alternative isn’t much to write home about! Staying aware of what’s going on in the generations of my children and grandchildren is also important. However, for me, immersion in “being old” is to be avoided at all costs.

Why should my attitude to life change just because society’s unwritten rules about what it is to be my age are not for me? How we live our lives in later life will have come about because of choices we made when we were younger. By cultivating a positive mindset and choosing healthy habits, like eating wholesome food and getting regular exercise in middle age, our later years can be as fulfilling and adventurous as they ever were.

The crucial difference in my sense of self now, compared to my younger self, is that I feel more confident. Age seems to rid you of some inhibition. My friends come from all age groups, not just from my demographic. One of my closest friends, at 44, is younger than my children. My most longstanding close friend is 81. Being involved in women’s rights at a local and national level brings me into contact with women of all generations. Mixing with younger people gives you a different perspective on the world from that of your older friends.

My age is something I rarely think about. It has little bearing on how I live my life. I still do most of the things I’ve always done and continue to learn new ones. Many people don’t know how to be when they are older, so they assume the stereotypical role model, doing themselves a great disservice. In a youth-centric society, accepting your age with pride is a vital step towards demolishing the ageism that predominates still today. However, being proud of your age doesn’t mean you have to conform to society’s construct of what it is to be your age.

Cher and Dolly Parton, two 77-year-old celebrities, recently shocked many members of society when they appeared in their shows dressed in clothing considered “not suitable for women of their age”. Women not only have the style police to contend with, but after the age of 50, they have the age monitors to answer to - or ignore, depending on the women’s willingness to conform. That females in their seventies can be seen as “sexy” rather than grandmotherly, confounds the mental image people have in their stereotype identikit for older women.

Never think of yourself as being too old to do anything. There are people in the media and on social platforms in the older age ranges proving that life doesn’t have to stop or slow down because you’re in the third stage of life. When I graduated at the age of 53, it was the achievement I’m most proud of. Studying while working in my late forties and early fifties was a real challenge. In the first year, I met a woman also studying for a degree who was in her late eighties! I believe she graduated too, in her nineties. What an inspiration.

It takes a little more time and effort to keep fit and healthy when you are over 60, but it’s well worth it. Besides my writing here on Substack, making headway in amendments to a second book, and my involvement in women’s rights, I take a strong interest in what’s going on in my country and others worldwide. Politics used to play a larger part in my life as I held various roles in the local branch of my then-political party, of which I was a member for twenty-five years. When the establishment took over the party once again, I withdrew from participating in politics.

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Also, I’m an artist but not a very active one at the moment, as writing dominates my time. I was involved in my local art society for many years, sitting on the committee and helping put on exhibitions.

A sample of some of my pastels and pencil drawings from the Bearded Men series.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it’s an asset that will help you live a long and healthy life. Being open-minded and curious is another element of a positive mindset. You are more open to innovation and taking risks if you have a natural curiosity, rather than settling for the familiar and mundane. New challenges build new neural pathways in the brain, preventing deterioration.

Try doing routine tasks differently, such as household chores with the opposite hand to the one you usually use; when you join your hobby group, don’t automatically sit in the same seat in the room you meet in, sit somewhere else and see things from a different angle, challenge your brain. We are all drawn to being creatures of habit, but it’s good to break the routine sometimes.

How other people treat you when they know your age differs from when they’re not sure or when they don’t know. Keep them guessing. I used to have a walking companion for long walks who knew my age and, at the beginning of our walking relationship, used to worry I’d have a heart attack or fall. This amused me no end. He had a very rotund waistline (not good for the heart or other internal organs) and wasn’t very fit, although he was ten years younger than me. If there was going to be a medical event I reckoned he was the likeliest contender for it.

Negative thinking can block humour, and a sense of humour is good for your health. We don’t lose our appreciation of the ridiculous as we grow older if we already have it. It helps us to keep that ageless feeling. Laughter lowers the cortisol levels in our bodies, reducing stress, as well as boosting the immune system.

A Norwegian study found that women with a strong sense of humour lived longer than those who didn’t, even with illness. For men, humour protected them from infection. So, spend time with others who share your sense of humour and do yourself a favour; have a good laugh and boost your immune system, as well as lengthen your life.

Don’t lose that ageless feeling whatever age you are. Stay curious and don’t overly indulge in being “old” or “middle-aged”. It is important to continue to enjoy time with friends of all ages, finding the ridiculous and irreverence in life. You may be considered eccentric, but that’s not your problem. Presenting as an older person who doesn’t fit the stereotype will also help to fight against ageism, which you become more aware of over the age of fifty. It’s a problem still entrenched in society.

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A subscriber, who is also a friend, has requested the theme of the next newsletter. She asked if I could write about what happens when your child leaves home and becomes independent, making you an empty nester. This has happened to me, and she’s anticipating the day when it happens to her.