Thoughts On Aging
Scott Couchenour
Owner: Step into your post-exit adventure with clarity and purpose ?? I'm a 4th Quarter Coach, experienced COO/CEO, strategic planner, project manager, keynote, author, coffee connoisseur
This is coming straight from my mind and heart:
Aging is grossly underappreciated and widely misunderstood.
They Meant No Harm
Those generally known as "Baby Boomers" and older did us a disservice. Don't get mad at them. They didn't do it on purpose. It's all they knew. Here's why I think that...
By and large, they grew up in an industrial revolution. Manufacturing was a key source of industry at the time. Most people got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, packed their lunch and headed off to the plant. With their timecard punched, they sat at one or two locations on an assembly line doing the same repetitive task until their shift was over. Then they left work.
Some went straight home. But others needed to unwind before they faced the spouse and kids. So they stopped off at what became known as a "third place". It was the place between work and home where the stresses of repetitive work could be drowned in a pint. The "Pub" got its name from being a public house.
The Repetition
It's no wonder they all had their eyes glued to the day they were going to retire. That day represented freedom in its finest form to them. No more work in the plant. They could do whatever they wanted to do. They could pursue their hobby with abandon. They could sleep in. Life would be great. Plus, the cost-of-living expenses was covered through the pension they had accumulated over 30 years of labor.
No one knew the brain was still capable of growing and learning. So, the prevailing thought of the day was that you peaked somewhere around age 40 and it was all downhill from there. In fact, according to sources, the idiom “over the hill” made its first appearance in the 1950s in this figurative sense.?It stemmed from people illustrating their life as a hill where the peak of the hill represented the halfway point of life. Once they had exceeded this halfway point in age, they were said to be “over the hill” of life. Decline was the only path available - or so it was thought. That's just the way it was, and no one seemed to question it.
A New Day
The Industrial Revolution gave way to the Service Revolution. There are more service-oriented businesses today than ever before. This means as we age, there are more places we can plug into with our vast array of experience than at any time in history. We may not be able to stand at an assembly line because of bad knees, but there is so much more intellectual gold we can dispense in a service economy. We are the ultimate knowledge workers!!
And there is so much more we're learning about the brain, about the body, and about the opportunities that we have long into our 4th Quarter. The brain never stops learning. The wisdom is needed now more than ever.
Takeaways
I know my preface is a bit disjoined. If you're reached this far into the issue, God bless you. Thanks for hanging in there.
领英推荐
Here are some takeaways I'm pulling from what I'm seeing around me:
Upshot
Let's live life to the fullest by taking advantage of everything we have experienced in life. Let's make a difference by reaching into our vast knowledge and wisdom and dispensing it to a younger generation who needs our guidance.
What are your thoughts?
The time you took to read this issue of the Serve Strong Finish Strong newsletter is greatly appreciated. Thank you. It's a privilege to write it for you.
First Vice President/Investments - Stifel
2 年Too many "Boomers" and Gen Xer's buy into the "retirement trap" predicated on the viewpoint you describe as being "over the hill". They accept that their best days are behind them and they should fade into travel and leisure. Baloney! The best time of life can be what you describe as the 4th quarter where one has the opportunity to redirect his or her skills, experiences, and resources into a new, fulfilling purpose. This approach to life keeps one growing and evolving and is most rewarding. This is why I wrote "Redefining Retirement: Finding Purpose and Passion in Your Second Half". A 65 year old may have 7,000 to 10,000 days of "retirement", it is time to make the most of them.
Consultant at Church Growth Network
2 年Scott, this is an interesting article, but it's more about the Builder generation than the Boomers. The Boomers were at the forefront on the move away from the industrial revolution. While there certainly were some left over attiduteds and feelings, especially among the older Boomers, by the second half of the Boomer surge, things had changed. Anyway, interesting article. thanks for sharing.