"I just turned 80-old by most definitions-but I've been surprised to find the changes I notice aren't any greater than those I've experienced my whole life. They aren't coming on faster. And most of them aren't for the worse. We tend to look back through rose-colored glasses, glorifying what was, but it occurs to me now that every stage of life brings gains and losses."
"It starts with childhood, which comes to an end with the rude awakening of young adulthood, when we realize we have to buy our own groceries and make our own decisions-for the duration. The threshold of graduation looked to me like the edge of a precipice. Gains aside, my 20s brought the realization that everything- marriage, career-building, staying slim-was harder than I'd expected. I would never look like Gloria Steinem, let alone Twiggy."
Old age is often perceived as a downhill slide toward death and continuous losses, but aging also includes gains and stable changes. Turning eighty reveals that changes are no greater or faster than those experienced earlier in life, and many are not worse. Childhood ends with the wake-up of young adulthood and responsibilities such as buying groceries and making decisions. The twenties bring harder realities—marriage, career-building, body image—with lost complacency. The thirties offer children and career advances at the cost of free time and missed connections. The forties bring the end of close physical intimacy with children and increased worry.
Read at Psychology Today
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