Good Timing

Editor’s Note:  As AgeSpots approaches its first anniversary in January 2022, we find Stanford University’s Center on Longevity has just released a report called The New Map of Life, which is a confirmation and affirmation of this blog’s intent.  

Twenty years ago, when I turned 50, I composed a list of five “drivers” that moved and motivated me.  I look at them regularly, and, I’m pleased to say, they remain relevant.   I never thought about them as an aging manifesto until now.

They are:

o   Have new experiences.

o   Develop skills and talents.

o   Be exposed to successful people.

o   Enjoy accomplishments.

o   Be constantly learning.

Implementing these, I still enjoy copywriting opportunities when I have them, knowing I can make a difference in how information is presented and received.   

I also have enrolled in 10-week class online at the University of Arizona on 20th century architecture and urbanism. 

I feel validated when I see the Stanford report, The New Map of Life, which touches on all of these and explores the importance of understanding that aging is not an end point, but is a generational shifting of attitudes and aptitudes.  

Two excerpts in the Stanford Center on Longevity’s 25-page report resonated with me.  Here they are.

“The New Map of Life calls on us to shift from a deficit mindset that laments the losses associated with aging—whether to health, mobility, independence, or social engagement—and to identify the gains that now go unmeasured and overlooked.”

“As people live longer and the roles and social norms associated with age become more fluid and self-defined, less uniform and regimented, qualities such as resilience, self-efficiency and curiosity when confronted with change will become the emotional toolkit for longevity.” 

Rather than feeling out of the loop, we are living in the loop—the ever-changing opportunities for learning, sharing, and growing.