Life's Funny That Way

Age v. Attitude

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.  ~Jack Benny~

It’s been said many different ways, but the fact is that age is nothing more than a number.  It is a chronological stage of your life.  It adds structure to things: You need to be five to enter kindergarten; you need to be sixteen to drive, eighteen to vote, twenty-one to drink, thirty-five to be president…. And on and on it goes. 

The thing is, though, as Mr. Benny so eloquently points out (I’ve always loved Jack Benny), that if you decide that your age makes no difference, then it truly doesn’t.  Life is more about the experiences you have that make you who you are than about the number of years you’ve spent on the planet.  Some say that with age comes wisdom… however, I have found that age, sometimes, comes all by itself.  I know some thirty-year-olds who have a higher emotional intelligence level than some fifty-year-olds.  It’s just a fact of life.  Age, to me, has little to do with anything – job performance, ability to be a good friend (I have good friends from ranging in age from the seventies to the twenties), ability to problem-solve, or a plethora of other things.  Age has very little bearing in my life.  Intellect, emotional stability, and ways of thinking are much more important. 

Of course, the natural aging process, which is related to chronological age in some ways, reminds me that I am no longer eighteen.  But it’s not the end of the world.  Even those things bother less a person with a positive attitude.  I guess what I’m saying is that, in the battle of age versus attitude: attitude will win every time!


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