At Sixty…
It’s happening. The back wash of the Baby Boom, perhaps America’s real whiniest generation. Our parents didn’t go off to war and we’re the only generation in the history of our republic to never register for the draft. We missed being hippies, we’re too old to become young republicans, and we came out into the work world in the 2nd worst recession since the depression.
For me my 20’s were my teen years with my own apartment. In my 30’s I created a family, and the world seemed to start crumbling in my 40s. I lost both parents, my best friend, and a high paying career to boot. And to quote a line from Annie Hall, “he’s 50 years old and he still doesn’t have a substantial job.” And yet…at 60 I’m just now starting to feel how fortunate I am. Never underestimate the wisdom of perspective.
I turned 60 two years ago. What have I learned?
Growing up and growing old are mutually exclusive
The grass is brown everywhere, it’s just the glasses you chose to wear
In a game of One Card Morty, you gotta have a lot of different cards
Never trust myths, especially the ones self-created
Showing up isn’t just half the battle, it may be everything
Precocious to middle aged is faster than you think
Don’t confuse being articulate with intelligent
In the land of the stupid, all tweets and headlines are true
Trust based on gut instinct is overrated
If eating crow was caloric, I’d be obese
For all of us turning 60 at record numbers, what do we do this newfound perspective? Wearing pastels, moving to Florida, retiring early, playing golf, and getting plastic surgery doesn’t really sound that interesting to me. Seems that we are either burdened with what to do with or without time and/or money. We are not the same 60-year-olds as our parents or grandparents!
If you would like to see what entitled 60 year olds focusing on themselves looks like, look no further than much of Europe. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece, but they have been forced to deal with their decisions. You can’t have your cake and expect there will be any cake left for anyone else.
We are all smart enough to go past the headlines and understand the issues. We as a generation create a tremendous burden for the society at large. We were just too big. We as a group expect a lot and yet when we are done with kids, it seems like many of us give up responsibility. We need to be involved with fixing the problem. We created the millennial generation that really will be the better version of us and we can't destroy their futures.
What are you going to do? You can turn inward and complain, or you can do something about it. This is not an issue of politics, but one of facing the truth. As young, educated, and privileged as we have been we’re not done—we can’t be done. The answers are always in the middle, not at the fringes. Grey Matters, let’s use it, this third pass of Saturn will be the best. I feel that I'm finally ready…
Happy birthday to us all...