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Published: March 29th 2010
Lemurs!
The unevolved monkies! Funny creatureesSalama! I am in the wonderful country of Madagascar where wildlife is abundant in the lushious green rainforest! It's very tough to get around because Madagascar is huge and the only means of transportation is the Taxi-Brousse. Basically, I have to wait 3 hours for the whole taxi van to fill up with people before we can go. Then we stop about 10 times before we reach our final destination which takes 10 hours. It's tough with all the flies and chicken in the van, but it's a hell of an experience! Luckily, I tagged along with an Irish husband and a Dutch wife who knew how to speak enough French to get us to places. Although they were 48 and 35, respectively, we all shared the same type of adventurous spirit. It brings a smile to my face that I know age won't slow me down in the future.
What's My Age Again? The mythical fountain of youth. The elixir. The peach of immortality. 90%!o(MISSING)f women who start to lie about their age after the age of 25.Botox. Anti-Aging cream. We've all conjured up the idea that growing older is 'bad'. I remember my first encounter
Brown Lemur
Quick and fun with the idea of the fear of aging. It was in the opening chapter of The Great Gatsby where a man decides to commit suicide because he was petrified of growing old. He thought it was better to die than to slowly let the body decay. Then I learned about how Japan became a country: The Chinese Emperor's fear of aging. The emperor ordered his general to go and find the peach of immortality for him. The general knew he was screwed because he knew the peach was a myth but he also couldn't deny the emperor's wishes. So he cleverly promised the emperor he'd find it in the island of Japan but the emperor had to give him 400 virgin men and women to bring over there... good one.The general created a new life for everyone in Japan because he knew he'd be killed if he returned to the emperor without the peach. The general was the same age as the emperor but he enjoyed his new life every single day while the emperor lived each day with the fear of growing old.
How can age inhibit somebody from living the moment? When an oppurtunity I've been
waiting for all my life is suddenly right in front of me, I'm going to take the leap of faith to make it happen. I'm not going to think about how many years I've collected before this oppurtunity finally came, I'm going to think about how taking this oppurtunity will define who I am right here, right now. I've met older people who said that they always wanted to start their own business or travel the world. When I ask them what's stopping them, the most common reply is, "I'm too old." I'm sick of hearing that same lame excuse over and over again. Maybe different priorities and responsibilities are stopping them, but don't blame it on age. The youth is in the spirit of the person, not the body
Before the sun dial was invented, I'd like to imagine that people would measure time by the ability of the person. 'Hey, when do you think you'll stop hunting?' ' How should I know? Maybe when I can't run anymore.' I like the 'when it happens, it happens' approach to time back then. It's laid back and there's more appreciation for the present moment. Now, we get all mad
at somebody when they are 30 minutes late for something. There's no such thing as '30 minutes late' back then, farmers would just patiently wait for the other person to eventually come. When the person comes, they are happy. Whereas now, we give our friend that "you're so selfish and irresponsible to make me wait" look of disapproval right when we see them. Relax! We put too much emphasis on time, but more specifically, we put too much emphasis on age.
We start believing that age dictates our ability to do things. Society starts making judgements of how a certain age group should act. "Old people shouldn't drive red cars. People over 50 shouldn't listen to punk rock. That 25 year old girl doesn't really love him, she just loves his money..." With all these generalizations in our heads, we forget to start making decisions about our individual abilities for ourselves.
We're always saying, "Oh, I'm too old for that now..." I have a friend who's been saying that he's "too old" to do a bunch of things since he was 18. He is now 24, and apparently, he's too old to learn how to play basketball and
too old to learn how to dance. I know 50 year olds who would scornfully laugh at my friend and say, "No, kid. You have no idea what old means. I'M too old to learn basketball and learn how to dance." But honestly, I also think that's not true. What does your ability to learn something new have anything to do with the amount of time the earth revolves around the sun? Nothing! You can't be too old to learn something new. The truth is, you only start becoming old the second you stop learning something new.
I never truly understood why people over 60 are so incredibly bad with computers. What's the difference between a 10 year old learning how to use a computer for the first time and a 60 year old learning how to use it? I mean, if anything, the 60 year old would have the advantage because he lived through the creation and evolution of the computer while a 10 year old is looking at a computer for the first time. Then I started to understand that as we get older, we become more relunctant to change. We become stubborn with our ways and
Swining
I like to move it, move it!
want a concrete routine instead of learning something new because we fear it'll confuse us. We start feeling like we are outside the sphere of influence in the world. We're all guilty of saying how the generation after us are 'spoiled' and 'the world is going to end in their hands." But we forget that we are just as much involved with shaping the world, regardless if you're over 60. There's one truth in the world that can't be denied: the one thing that doesn't change is that every single thing is always changing. I would think the older we get, the more we understand that fact. But for some reason, we forget that valuable lesson. We need to adapt to change to make a difference. When we stop accepting change, then we can start calling ourselves old.
My dad is 50+ years old and he can still beat me in tennis. You would think that a 23 year old would win because of his sheer speed and power but then you would be making the same mistake as me. What makes him such a formidable opponent is his willingness to learn new things in tennis. He's always watching
Gecko
with a red spot more videos or asking coaches for more advice on how to improve his stroke. While he's eagerly learning new techniques to add to his arsenal, I'm just complacently relying on my age to beat him out. Who's the old guy now?
I may be naiive because I haven't experienced old age yet, but I know my dad will never admit that he's too old for anything. 6 years ago, he walks into the office and starts blaring a song during one of their conference meetings. He tells everybody that this song captures the essence of what he wants the company to do. Was it a song by the Beatles? No. The Eagles? No. The Rolling Stones? No. Of all the musicians, he chose Eminem to represent the direction of the company. EMINEM?! He chose the song, "Lose Yourself" because the message was :'you only got one shot, one oppurtunity to never ever let it go. So you better lose yourself in the moment...~' How bizzare and utterly awesome was it for his young employees to see the boss rocking out to Eminem? He said he chose it because he likes it and believes it delivers the appropriate message. Eminem
and the word 'appropriate' is hardly ever said in the same sentence. Yet, the song is strangely appropriate because even though my dad was in his late forties, he just lost himself in that moment. He just forgot about age and seniority and took the one oppurtunity to bring his young and old workers together to move forward in his vision. Regardless of age, it was his moment to inspire his people and without missing a beat, he lived every moment of it.
We don't need the fountain of youth or peach of immortality to stay young, we just need the right mindset. We need to tell society to shut up and stop telling us to act our age based on everyone's opinion. We can stay young by embracing change and realizing that we are still in the sphere of influence. A new experience is a new experience, regardless of age. The youth is in the spirit of the person and not in the body. If there is always something new for us to learn, then our spirit will always be young and excited. Fortunately, this world has endless new beauties to learn from and so we should never
feel old.
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. -Mark Twain
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Eric
non-member comment
I enjoyed your Madagascar post. I have always wanted to go there. My blog is looking for good travel photos. If you have the time, check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric