Mitch and Morrie have already covered a lot of heavy topics: the world, feeling sorry for yourself, regrets, death, family, and emotions. In their seventh meeting, they discuss the fear of aging.
The Seventh Tuesday: We Talk About the Fear of Aging
"It's very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at 22, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at 22. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it" (Pg. 118).
"The truth is, part of me is every age. I'm a 3-year-old, I'm a 5-year-old, I'm a 37-year-old, I'm a 50-year-old. I've been through all of them, and I know what it's like. I delight in being a child when it's appropriate to be a child. I delight in being a wise old man when it's appropriate to be a wise old man. Think of all I can be! I am every age, up to my own" (Pg. 120).
This is a very comfortable perspective of aging since it encourages you to embrace the idea that you have the choice to be every age. Our culture tries to persuade us into believing that aging means we're loosing something: good looks, vitality, opportunities for work, freedom, strength, etc.
By looking at aging the way Morrie suggests, we're actually gaining a lot by aging: wisdom, experience, the ability to be any age, the insight to choose how you want to live, etc.
Maybe we can follow Morrie's previous advice and not buy into the culture about aging! This is an area that I need to work on; I'm not embracing aging at all. In fact, I hate it. But, as with most of the lessons in this book, Morrie's thoughts have encouraged me to recognize that I have a choice in how I perceive aging. I really like how I can view aging as having the opportunity to be any age I want to be, up to my own.
How are you handling aging? How do you interact with people older and younger than you?
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