What is old anyway?

The other day I went shopping with my Mum, a rare event but that's a different story. I noticed that she talked a lot about old or elderly people. My mother is in her 70’s, not a real spring chick(en) and a lot of people would say she is quite old herself. It took me a while to figure it out, but my Mum calls people in their late 80’s/early 90's old. But what is old anyway?

According to Wikipedia “Old age consists of ages nearing the average lifespan of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle. Euphemisms for older people include advanced adult, elderly, and senior or senior citizen. Older people have limited regenerative abilities and are more prone to disease, syndromes, and sickness than other adults.”

Old is a strange concept. When you are young you want to get older as fast as you can. All is well when you hit 16, 18 and 21. When you hit 21, you get the feeling that you have to live your life in 9 years, because 30 is sooooo old! When you hit 30 you probably start to worry about your 40th or maybe even your 50th birthday and you don’t even want to start thinking about hitting 60 or how about 65. But here is the thing, the older you get the farther away old age becomes. Isn’t that great?! You can still feel very young …….even in your 70’s.

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.” - Mark Twain