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You know you are getting older when ...

by Erica Green

 
I have found over the years that there are some tell-tale signs that let you know that you are getting older. Signs that tell you that you have reached the pinnacle and are about to speed up down the other side.  It would seem that most parents learn these things quite quickly, because their kids certainly let them know, but I don't have kids so I have to get my cues from other things. I will share with you a little story of an experience that shocked me into the realisation that I had crossed over that threshold.

My husband and I were out and about shopping and we decided to grab a quick lunch on the go, at a Subway store. As we moved along the line to the cash register, I opened my purse to pay, and the shop attendant looks up and asks this momentous question.   "Will that be with a senior's discount?" The only way that he could have made it sound worse, was if he had topped it off with the term "ma'm" at the end of the statement.  I was so dumbfounded that I did not have a single come back.  I only managed "Uh … no …" with a screech like a teenage boy whose voice was just breaking. 

However, by the time that we had got back to the car, sandwich in hand, I had well and truly gotten over the shock and was now in full flight.  "How dare that snotty, pimple faced kid presume that I am old enough for a senior's discount. So he thinks that I am a Nanna, does he?  I will give him Nanna.  These shops employ clueless infants.  I don't look that old, … do I?  Mature, perhaps but senior, no way."

As I paused to take a breath, my husband chimes in.  Darling he was not looking at you when he said that, he was looking at me.  He took one look at the grey hair and assumed senior with a much younger wife, which is why he had to check who was paying.  Such a lie, bless him.

In hind sight I should have just said thanks and taken the discount. Now that I have gotten over the initial shock of the question I will do better next time.

But the story does not end there.  A week or so later, my husband took himself off to see a movie.  I did not feel deprived at being left out, because it was a movie that I would never have enjoyed. After much faffing around at the counter he purchased a ticket and enjoyed the movie.  On the way home he got to thinking that the ticket seemed quite cheap and upon extracting the ticket stub from his pocket discovered that they had charged him senior's rates, and without even asking.

Now this is where I get to gloat.  I am now claiming this movie experience as evidence of the truth of his claim at the subway shop. 

On a more serious note, there are advantages in getting a little older, in addition to cashing in on seniors discount.  A collection of life experiences is one of the best things about getting older and these experiences bring with them many positive features. 

1 - Wisdom

There is a level of wisdom that only comes through age and experience.

As you get older, you get better at so many things.  After all practice makes perfect. 

Old people know "stuff". They may not know the latest trends or the latest hi-tech, but they certainly are experts in other areas.  Whether that be general trivia or the type of things that makes them an authority in their field. 

"Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?" (Job 12:12, NIV)

2 - Confidence.

There is a level of confidence that only comes through age and experience.

Older people seem to be more comfortable in their own skins and circumstances.  They have spent a long time in their skins and they understand who they are and find little merit in trying to be what they are not. 

With this level of confidence comes a degree of freedom from worrying, quite so much, about what other people think of them, along with a healthy side serve of assertiveness in drawing boundaries, and a freedom in being able to say no more easily. They don't need to live up to the expectations of others. 

God's view of who we are is enough.  "... The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV)

3 - Perspective

There is a level of perspective that only comes through age and experience.

Each successive life experience brings us to a realization of the things that really matters, and conversely the things that don't really matter all that much at all.

Life has meaning because of shared relationships. Healthy relationships, in whatever form they come (Spouse, partner, family, and friends),  are truly the things that make our lives richer and our life experiences more complete. Because of time pressures, these relationships can be somewhat neglected in our younger years, only to a regretful realisation in later life.

The most important thing that we can learn in our lifetime is the importance of love.   In the bible, Jesus is approached and asked to comment on the most important command and his response is thus.   " …  "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

4 - Hope for Future

There is a level of hope that only comes through age and experience.

One of the more famous of Ellen White quotes comes to mind.  "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history."

For those who have experiences God's faithfulness in their lives in the past, it is not such a big leap for them to trust and expect to experience his faithfulness in the future.

"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19, NIV)

In Summation.

"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness" (Proverbs 16:31, NIV)

Maybe I will find glory in my grey hair one day.  I am just not quite ready to let go of that one yet.  But, at least I know there are lots of good things to look forward to when I am ready.  Oh blow it, let's take on the good stuff now, even if I keep the dyed hair and the self-delusion of youth for a little longer.

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