These are fine messages for T-shirts and greeting cards, but do they really reflect your experience of aging?
They certainly dont reflect mine.
Better yet: Its actually true.
First, a few facts.
Even so, the expected life span of a baby born in the U.S. today is 77.5 years.
For 1923 babies, it was 57.2.
Read more stories from the Age Issue
But wait.
According to the Social Security Administration, the expected life span of a modern American 50-year-old is 80.4.
For 75-year-olds, its 86.4.
So, forget all that blather about which age is the new 40 or the new 30.
What can we do with those extra 20 or 30 years?
And what can those years do for us?
Because the longevity bonus doesnt just mean that weve got more time to enjoy our lives.
It means weve got more time to change and grow.
Ill save you the time it would take you for a Google search.
It was David Bowie.
With time, you become more appreciative of the world around you.
The psychiatrist Oliver Sacks wrote poignantly about this phenomenon the year that he turned 80.
One is more conscious of transience and, perhaps, of beauty, he wrote.
Nobodys saying its all upside, of course.
But every time you manage it, you add to your store of resilience.
You become more committed to whatever youre doing.
To hear Bowie tell it, you may even become more yourself.
We’ve published a new and completely different edition ofAARP The Magazine.
It’s available right here onAARP.org, and is also accessible via the AARP Now app andAARP Pubs app.
I guarantee youll be surprised by what you read.
After youve read our all-digital issue, Id love to hear what you think of it.
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