The Art of Aging

One of the reasons that I talk about acceptance, being such an important part of aging is because it pretty much affects all aspects of aging. The changes that we experience as we age begin very subtly, and at a certain point become predominant in our lives. Such as the changes in our hearing, our vision and the changes in our mobility. At first, it starts with just having to pick up a pair of readers to read the fine print on a bottle and that’s OK. You know it’s normal. Everyone says “Oh I have to have my cheaters to see this.” It’s almost a universal joke as you get older. But then you get to a certain point, even in the healthiest person where there are compromises that have to be made.

For instance, when your vision gets to the point that you have cataracts and you have to go through cataract surgery or when your hearing gets to the point where you really have to take some kind of action and get hearing aids or when your mobility makes you realize that some of your activities might have to be approached differently or be restricted. These are the things that make us feel vulnerable as we age. And I think it’s when these things converge that we start to feel the vulnerability of aging. We know that our senses are not as acute as they were when we were younger and it somehow makes us feel less than we were.

Now here’s the question what do we do about this? There is only one thing that you can do about it, and that is take the actions that you can take to remedy the situation and then accept that this is where you are in life and this is your new normal. Aging is a series of new “normals”. The key is being able to accept the new normal. This is why I always stress that acceptance is such a huge part of aging well.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the actual art of aging. Is there an art to aging well? I think it might be more of a skill than an art. All through life we have developed skills to help us excel in different areas of our lives. As we age it is no different, we have to learn the skills to adapt. I myself had to adapt many of my activities due to the changes in my eyesight.  I had successful cataract surgery, but my eyesight is not what it used to be when I was young so I’ve had to make changes to how I go about some things. Some of the things that I used to be able to do like painting and reading things with smaller print, etc. are affected. I need really good light now and glasses when I am painting. I no longer read paperbacks or books with small print. It is the same thing with mobility. Even though I am very flexible, mobile and lucky to be in really good health. Everything still is not the same. I have had to adapt my workout programs. I’ve had to adapt my arm work, my leg work, my yoga. But that’s OK because I’m still moving forward. I’m just moving forward in a way that is appropriate for where I am at this point in my life. Do I feel more vulnerable absolutely. When your senses change and your strength changes, it would be impossible not to feel more vulnerable.  Accepting that we are no longer the immortal young people that we once were is a very healthy way to approach aging.  Is there really an art to aging? I would say it is the ability to accept where you are in your life at any given moment without resentment and to be able to move forward with confidence in your ability to accept and adapt to new “Normals”.