By Julie E 
Photo Credit (Pixabay)
In recent years, experts have said that “60 is the new 40.” This is because our population is getting older and people’s ideas about what it means to be “old” are changing.
In the UK, people could expect to live 81 years on average by 2020, up from 77 years in 2000. Treasure Trails also did a poll and found that more than half of people over 60 thought that old age now started at 76, and almost a third thought it started at 80.
Even better, 46% of those polled said they felt fitter than their parents did when they were the same age, and 10% said they had more energy than their kids.
People are naturally changing the events and ways of life that are usually linked to different age groups because people are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. People are getting married and having kids later, working longer, and “unretiring” later. They are also continuing to try new things and take on new tasks well into their 60s, 70s, and beyond.
According to Doctor Sergei Scherbov, who has led studies on getting older, time spent or time left to live can be used to measure age. He said this in an interview with The Mirror. Over the years, what we consider old has changed. As people live longer and better lives, this will need to continue to change.
“I would say that someone 60 years old today is middle-aged, but 200 years ago, that person would have been very old.”
You are only old when you feel old.
But many people would say we shouldn’t have to wait for science or society to change the rules about how we should act or think about each other based on our ages. Each of us can instead live our lives based on how we feel and the attitude we choose to have.
What age would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? That’s what baseball star Satchel Paige once asked. And studies show that Paige might be on to something.
A recent study found that people who thought they were older were biologically older. This is because the average person over 60 says they feel 12 years and five months younger than their true age. This shows that the mind and body are strongly connected.
It can be hard to ignore the numbers and societal expectations about our age, but if we do, and instead focus on our own beliefs, values, hobbies, and passions, we can become anyone we want to be and achieve anything we set our minds to.
Letting go of the life we think we should live based on our chronological age means not looking for the fountain of youth or following old ideas that say you should slow down when you hit the State Pension age, if that’s not what you want to do.
Instead, it’s about enjoying every part of life in a way that makes you happy and content. It’s also about enjoying life in new ways and being thankful for the growth, development, and experience that come with each new year.
Going against the grain
We’re proud to have talked to many members since Rest Less launched in 2018 who are great examples of what it means to get out of your comfort zone and take advantage of chances, no matter what age.
Moya Goatley, 78, and Christine Rollinson, 52, are two examples of people who have recently graduated from college. Or Maura Ward, who climbed Mount Fuji for her 70th birthday just six months after being told she had Parkinson’s disease.
Jon and Steve, who are 51 and 61 years old, are getting ready to row across the Atlantic. We also talked to Irini Tzortzoglou, 60, who won Masterchef in 2016.
In addition, a lot of people in their 50s and 60s are choosing to work instead of retiring. They are taking on part-time jobs, career changes, helping, and building their own businesses. Some people have also retired only to find that they miss the chances to meet new people and learn new things that come with working.
One example is Dee Flower, who started working with kids who have autism and learning problems eight months after she retired at age 68.
We also talked to Mark Pearson, 58, about how he started to train dogs after working as a truck driver. Kim Wright, in her 50s, quit her high-level management job to drive an ambulance for patients, and Ian Palmer, 57, opened a whisky distillery.
It’s not just people in their 50s and 60s who want to try new things. There are many cases of people in their 90s and even 100s who are still enjoying life…
When Jack Reynolds got his first tattoo on his 104th birthday, he broke the world record. After starting to run long distances at age 89, Fauja Singh, also known as the “Turbaned Tornado,” completed several marathons, including one at the age of 104. Oh, and Yu Te-Hsin was the oldest person to tandem paraglide in 2020. He was 105 years old.
Is 60 really the new 40?
In a recent piece, author and writer Gillian Harvey said, “Let’s face it, no one is going to say that 40 is the new 20 or that 20 is the new abort.” She’s right too…Who would be left out if 60 really was the new 40? People who are in their 40s, 50s, or younger?
It’s true that “60 is the new 40,” which means that people are living longer, better lives and feeling younger at 60 than their parents and grandparents did. This is something to be happy about.
This has a lot to do with medical progress, better sanitation, and more information about nutrition and health. But how we spend our time can also have a big effect on how young we feel.
20% of people over 60 who were polled said that playing with their grandkids kept them young. Another 11% said that they liked playing video games, and many said they liked playing sports.
Last words…
Things get better with age, and we at Rest Less think that 60 is the new 60! We should stop comparing 60-year-olds to 40-year-olds and instead focus on all the great things about being 60, which there are many.
People of all ages are often misquoted. For example, kids are told they look or act older than they are, and adults are told they seem younger. But what if we stopped caring about age and accepted people for who they are? What if we lived in the present moment and pushed the limits of what society expects of us at every age?
A lot of what people think they know about getting older comes from old information that isn’t true anymore. We should all keep breaking the rules and showing others how beautiful getting older can be.
“Getting old is just another word for living,” Cindy Joseph once said. What will your next adventure be?