ADVICE ON HOW TO KEEP FROM AGING - COLLECTED WISDOM

EIGHT BITS OF WISDOM AND A SUMMARY 

 

1. “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.”

Theodore Roosevelt

I believe in this so much that I actually taught a class to future priests about saving for retirement with their first check. I even gave them a $100.00 each to open an IRA, an Individual Retirement Account.  

2. “One day you will look back and see that all along you were blooming.” 

                                                                                       Morgan Harper Nichols

Back when I was working on my end-of-life plans and designing my tombstone, I took a lot of time to reflect on my life. When I was finished reflecting back, I decided on four simple words "simply amazed  - forever grateful." "Amazed" and "grateful" - that pretty much sums it up and, besides, it looks pretty good on a tombstone! 

3. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interest.” 

                                                                   John Glenn

I think I was born for service. My first inkling of maybe becoming a priest was when I was six years old. I publicly announced it at seven years old. I entered seminary at age fourteen, was ordained at twenty-six and have served in ministry for fifty-five years so far. Even in retirement, I cannot stop serving. In my mid-seventies, I made twelve mission trips to the Caribbean. At eighty-one, I have helped build a church in Kenya and a house in Tanzania. At eighty-two, I plan to help a Tanzanian Bishop finish building a new grade school in 2026. I have already started working on it! 

4. “There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” 

                                                                  Sophia Loren

As I asked the people of the Cathedral when I arrived there to lead its parish revitalization and restoration, "Who says you only get one "golden age?" I am here to lead you to a second "golden age!" When I left there, I asked myself the same question. As a result, I have had a few more "golden ages" since then, even in retirement, because I believed in their possibility and did the work to help create them. 

5. “Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.” 

                                                                                          Maggie Kuhn

One of the best things about old age is that you can say or write about anything and get away with it! I wrote a column every week for fifteen years in the local archdiocesan weekly, The Record. After that I started this blog, especially in retirement, I feel much freer to say what I feel than used to! What can they do to me now, fire me?

6. “If I had known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”                                                                                  Anonymous

Actually, I have discovered in my old age that you can turn your weight and health around if you don't wait too long. My "New Year's Resolution" when I turned 80 was to get back to my ideal weight again through the daily use of my treadmill and watching what I ate. This time I summoned the discipline. At 81, I have reached my ideal weight and now I can fit well into a favorite jacket that I bought in Amsterdam when I was twenty seven years old and backpacking through Europe! This year, I lost over thirty pounds, six inches in my waist and I am holding!  

7. “The wiser mind mourns less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind.”                                                                         William Wordsworth

I am not one who yearns for the days of my youth. I don't want to go back. That was much too hard! I am more centered and peace-filled now than at any other time of my life. I only wish I had the body of youth and the mind of an experienced old man. If I had to choose, I would certainly choose the mind of an experienced old man. 

8. “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.”                                                                             Anonymous

One of the things about old age, for me at least, is how fast time flies by in such a short time. It seems to me that every other day is a Thursday - time to get the weekend homily polished and ready to post on my blog. Even when someone mentions something from the recent past, I imagine it happened two, maybe three, years ago only to find out it was ten years ago! This odd awareness started back when I was a staff member at Saint Meinrad Seminary before my "retirement." I would ask them about something that happened "a few years ago" and they would respond, "Father, we don't know! We weren't even born yet!" 

SUMMARY 

How can you develop a positive mindset about aging?

First, you can start by shifting your focus from what you’re losing to what you’re gaining—wisdom, experience, and confidence. Second, you can surround yourself with inspiring people, keep learning new things, and embracing the opportunities that come with each stage of life.

Oprah Winfrey wisely said this, "We live in a youth-obsessed culture that is constantly trying to tell us that if we are not young, and we’re not glowing, and we’re not hot, that we don’t matter. I refuse to let a system or a culture or a distorted view of reality tell me that I don’t matter. I know that only by owning who and what you are can you start to step into the fullness of life. Every year should be teaching us all something valuable. Whether you get the lesson is really up to you.”

Maybe this is why some people have called me "an old lady magnet" - their sense of adventure! Maybe not all of them, but certainly the ones I enjoy the most!