I was teasing a friend about getting old. She said, "I'm only as old as I feel." Truism, right? A study indicates that there is some truth to it. Women tend to feel old younger and men tend to feel old older, but, as it turns out, the elderly tend to feel 13 years younger than they really are ... and it is to their benefit. Feeling younger, they can be more active which has its own anti-aging benefits. You know, a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of.
But there are a lot of things lurking around in that statement that ought to be examined. First, notice the determining factor: "I feel." That's where we are today -- determining facts by how we feel. Now that can be dangerous.
Notice the underlying principle: Getting old is bad. That is our culture today. Sadly, it's not biblical. "A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness" (Prov 16:31). "Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father" (1 Tim 5:1).
It's good to remain active. I'm all for it. I'm in favor of not worrying about age. It would be nice, however, if we would learn not to determine truth by how we feel, and if we learned that forgotten value of respecting age rather than worshiping youth. Because getting older isn't necessarily bad; it is often accompanied with wisdom. Because while there may be some truth to the adage, "You're only as old as you feel", there is no truth to the claim "You're always as wise as you feel." That just doesn't work.
3 comments:
Good points. I "feel" older for the first hour of each day and "feel" younger as the kinks work their way out. It's a daily cycle.
But to act on "feelings" is bad policy. I don't think we need to totally ignore feelings, but our actions need to be based on facts and logic, mostly, for most things we do.
There is an unfortunate attitude regarding the old in this country. I just read a great article about the subject that I will try to find and submit. But, we can't assume age and wisdom are synonymous, though they ought to be.
Marshall Art: "we can't assume age and wisdom are synonymous"
Absolutely not! Age does not automatically confer wisdom. What we can be sure of is that youth does not confer wisdom either. And, in terms of likelihood, it is certainly more likely that an older person has accumulated more wisdom than a younger person.
Interesting post you got there, pal.
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