Being 62 years old, has come with some surprises. Ones that did not reveal themselves even when I was fifty. They center around how the thinking and practices in the world have changed from when I was young.
Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s life was pretty stable. There was not as much diverse thought in my life. Opinions and news was much more centered and I was sheltered from extremes.
Traditions, the way things were done, hierarchies, and values were much more rigid and established. To some degree, there was more predictability in our lives back then.
Today, maybe it is not my age, but rather the evolution of the internet and technology that makes so many things different today than back then.
What I find fascinating, I can no longer rely as much on
what I know but must spend more time learning what now is.
It becomes more a time of adjustment and adaptation. Not fighting nor ignoring what is in front of me. This flexibility to adapt was important in my 20’s when I first was learning about the world and now becomes important again.
Life, its culture and essence, is much more fluid and evolving
as new generations enter adulthood.
The challenge, at my age, is in finding the values or basics learned along my life’s journey that don’t change and finding how to hold them relevant while the winds of new thought & ideas swirl around me each day.
And then finding a way to embrace them both with enthusiasm and joy as I continue to move forward towards the next new day.