Aged Wine Is The Most Treasured

The baby boomer generation has always believed the world was there just for them and is shocked to think that they are no longer the center of attention. Their voices, that once demanded more fun, more excitement, more things, are now overshadowed by the voices of their families telling them to give up their dreams.  They’re expected to settle into their easy chairs and be content with thinking about what has been, rather than what can still be. Those voices should be ignored . No one knows their expiration date or if that truck barreling down the road will hit them when they’re 28 or 60.

The language that we use perpetuates the expectations of decline that society declares as inevitable with age. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using certain words or phrases that denigrate our mental abilities. Many of us have laughingly used, or have heard our friends use, the term, “senior moment”. What scientific studies show that when we reach a specific birthday, we get stupid? As we get older, we might become lonely, sick or tired but there’s nothing that proves that we get stupid.

 Our choice of hair color shouldn’t be indicative of our vitality and yet grey hair, particularly on older women, is often misread as a sign of diminished energy or relevance. Grey hair doesn’t automatically transform a woman into a frail, sexless hag- it’s just hair!

The Boomer is told to act “mature” as befits their age. The word mature infers complete ripeness and growth. Complete growth? We continue to grow until we no longer exist, and most people don’t aspire to that state of being. Learn to giggle again!

We can’t be afraid to spotlight ourselves. I don’t remember any course in school labeled, “How to Blend into the Background in any Situation.” Just because we have lines etched into our skin or don’t spend the days running a fortune 500 company, doesn’t mean that our hearts and brains have stopped functioning. Each of us has had unique experiences that make us who we are. We must draw on these experiences to recapture the enthusiasm for life we had when we were younger. Perhaps those dreams and desires might never come to fruition but that doesn’t mean that we should stop striving to achieve them, just because society has decided that we are past our prime. Our reflection in the mirror may look different at fifty than it did at twenty, but the essence that defines us is timeless.

Remember that aged wine is considered the most desirable.