Are You Pro or Anti-Aging?

Worth experiencing

As we age, the Boomer generation is splitting into two camps. On one hand, there are those in the anti-aging camp who think that successful aging means extending the attributes and activities of youth as long as possible. These Boomers are big on running marathons, undergoing cosmetic surgery and borrowing their daughter’s clothes. On the other hand, there are an increasing number of us who believe that aging is a life stage worth experiencing on its own terms. These are the “embrace getting older” Boomers in the pro-aging camp. Which camp are you in? The next 5 slides will provide you with food for thought. Warning: it’s not always a matter of black and white. Some of these are actually trick questions!

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. is Founder of FierceWithAge, the Digest of Boomer Wisdom, Inspiration and Spirituality. Dr. Orsborn, who earned her doctorate in religion from Vanderbilt University, is the best-selling author of 21 books including her newest book: Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn.

Do you think 60 is the new 40?

You think this is a compliment, but what you’re really saying is that 40 is better than 60. You may really believe this—it’s your right. But it does put you squarely into the anti-aging camp.

Pro-aging people don’t think that any age is necessarily better than any other age. Rather, they experience people at midlife and beyond on a continuum of aging, offering both new challenges and benefits with each passing year. If what you are really meaning to say by this is that being 60 does not fit the negative stereotypes of aging, say instead “60 is the new 60.” For pro-aging people, growing older holds the potential of a fulfillment and culmination rather than something to only regret or avoid.

Paying a lot for anti-aging moisturizer?

This does not necessarily mean you are anti-aging. Even when it comes to the most expensive creams on the market, there’s only so much a moisturizer can do. Whether you are pro or anti-aging, you may buy and expensive product because you appreciate treating your face to the pleasurable scent and texture let alone the superior moisturizing properties of an anti-aging cream. So the mere fact of purchasing an anti-aging cream does not make you anti-aging.

Here’s a better litmus test. When you use the cream, if the wrinkles are still there when you’re though, are you not only upset that the cream didn’t deliver on its promise, but that you still look old? Then yes, paying a lot of money for quality anti-aging cream does, indeed, make you anti-aging.

Does wanting to run a marathon...

...make you anti-aging? One thing that both pro and anti-aging folks have in common is the urge to stay healthy and fit. The question is what is motivating your particular exercise program and aspirations? You are pro-aging if your regimen is inspired by the desire to fulfill your potential, and if by doing so, you are enhancing rather than jeopardizing your health.

You are anti-aging, on the other hand, if you believe it is impingent on you to maintain or attain a level of fitness usually ascribed to people younger than your age as proof of your ability to defy aging. Ask yourself whether your extreme commitment to activity is being fueled by fear or by passion? Motivation driven by fear has the potential to do harm, not only to your body, but to mind and spirit.

Do you dye your hair or have you gone grey?

You are solidly in the pro-aging camp if you have made the health of your hair—rather than its color—your priority. The “go grey” movement is full of folks who are curious about their changing hair color, proud to have their hair show their age and accepting the organic changes in their appearance as they age.

However, the mere fact that you continue to color your hair does not make you pro or anti-aging—but should give you pause for thought. There are a lot of societal pressures put upon us as we age to look younger. Many folks, both men and women, report that they are more likely to keep their jobs or be more hirable if they keep their hair brown, black or blond through the use of chemicals. You may be pro-aging at heart, but a pragmatist in terms of your decision to go for color.

Then, finally, some of us just simply prefer color in our hair because we think it’s fun, funky or pretty—or matches our complexions better. It is the pro-aging folks who tend to not give a hoot about what other people think, going grey, black or green stripes for that matter.

Do you feel sorry for old people...

...sitting on a park bench staring into space? You are anti-aging if you assume that the individual on the park bench is there because he/she has nothing better to do, no place else to go. Of course, that may be the case. There are plenty of older people out there who have been marginalized from society before their time and who could benefit from increased activity and interaction. However, it is your assumption that this is necessarily the case that puts you into the anti-aging camp.

The alternative is to consider is that this individual is there by choice, enjoying the moment and attaining a level of spiritual transcendence to which we can only aspire. If you are willing to at least consider this as a possibility, you are pro-aging.