I am interested in people, their behavior, their habits, their mannerisms and their life experiences. It is fascinating to think how much we can learn about people, just by stopping to observe them. So I would consider myself a people watcher. My Mother was also a people watcher. She would say, it’s the small things that tell you the most about a person! What makes them ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ and she was always 100% bang on. Even today, living with Dementia and Parkinson’s she will point and say ‘real’, or ‘not real’! People watching can be fun, interesting, or some might think it’s just plain creepy.
While my husband and I were at lunch, I observed most customers were seniors like us, (my husband is not really a senior), but it made me curious about growing older. People watching gives you an opportunity, not just to view other people but to view the world from where you sit! I observed people’s posture, their expressions, actions, clothing, shoes, tattoos, canes, and hearing snippets of conversations. If you’re like me, you might spin theories about these individuals: by watching their facial expressions, how they eat, the way they walk or even the way they sit down! I read, “the human body is a powerful and versatile communication device” which from my experience is true. Depending on what stage of life you are in, being a people watcher is not always a bad thing. This is where real learning starts, but remember at some point you need to take action and start doing!
My observations, lead me to wonder “in my 60s am I considered old?” and “how can I successfully age”? At one time in my life, I would never announce my age. Today, I am proud of who I am and love growing older and hopefully a little wiser. You can separate aging, the physical process from growing older, to an attitudinal process. Aging reflects the relationship of time on our being, while old describes our state of mind. The problem is we often split aging into the good and the bad. In the Bible, aging is both a blessing and a curse. Choosing to live an engaged life until we die is no accident. I purposefully and intentionally live my life every day.
Today’s seniors refuse to resign themselves to aging quietly in a corner and allow life to pass them by. Today, seniors are more active than ever and are most happy when they have a purpose, building and maintaining meaningful relationships, maintaining their independence and feeling they have some control in their lives. We cannot turn back the hands of time, but we can live an abundant and healthy life. Proverbs 20:29 says, “The glory of the young is their strength, the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old” and remember, “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.”