Times they are a changing

During a recent conversation, a female friend of mine stated that she wasn’t excited about being fifty. She felt that all she was doing was giving up things. Her children were growing away from her and becoming more independent. Her mental skills weren’t as sharp. She admits that she worries that one or both of her parents may soon pass on. Some friends are becoming more distant.

She could have added that as we become older our generation ceases to be the innovators that they once might have been. We are leaving a legacy, not creating a history the way we once did. As a rule, the older generation is not writing the new novels, creating the new styles or innovating the latest have to have commercial product.

Oh it’s true the baby-boomers still sway a lot of commercial decisions. Bob Dylan had the number one selling CD in the country not to long ago. The problem with that is that the only people that still buy CD’s are older people. The young buyers purchase their music on-line and download, so the Dylan album claim to number one status is questionable.

There is more research in any number of medical conditions that are going to impact the boomers. But even here, the pragmatism is being driven by the need rather than by their innovation. The dearth of advertising to boomers for everything from investment products to get well cures is being created by younger people profiting from a huge market.

On the up side, passing the fifty mark gives you the freedom to carry on with those dreams and desires that were set aside when you took on the responsibilities of parenthood and family building. Women in particular, it seems to me, can use this time in their life to blossom and grow. The loss of mental acuity is largely proven to be a myth. Physical abilities may limit Olympic ambition, but satisfactory accomplishments that are less that world class level can be attained by those who have patience and a decent work ethic.

I propose that the one thing that you get more control of as you grow older is time. Family, job and community demands are, or can be if you choose, less. Where and what you do with your life becomes more and more a matter of choice. Trying to relive the past or rework your parenting skills by inserting yourself into your grandchildren’s life or spending more hours on the job are two options, but so is taking up that hobby or career change that always beckoned, but for many reasons the pursuit of which was not practical.