Bruce Springsteen wrote a song called “Glory Days”. In the song, Springsteen sings about people who were popular when they were young, but now that they’ve grown old, they do nothing but sit around and reminisce about their “glory days”.
I’ve met people like the ones, Springsteen sings about. They live in the past—always daydreaming about what their life used to be like. Let me suggest that living in the past is not the best way to deal with growing older. There’s more to life than thinking your best days are behind you.
Willie Mays, who just turned 90 (May 6, 2021), is regarded by many as one of baseball’s greatest players. It’s been many years since Mays played professional baseball, but he’s not sitting around doing nothing. Believe it or not, at the age of 89, Willie Mays published a new book, 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid. Mays said he wanted to write a book for young people so he could pass on words of inspiration to the next generation. Willie Mays isn’t sitting around daydreaming about his glory days. He’s still active and still getting things done.
Our lives go through different phases. Once we were all kids. Then teenagers. Then we were in our prime of life—our twenties and thirties. After that, we entered middle-age. Now some of us are in our so-called “golden years”—sixty or older. This time of life is called “golden” because, supposedly, the golden years are a time of retirement, relaxation, and leisure.
In reality, the so-called “golden years” are a time of decline. The prime of life has passed us by. We have less energy and less motivation to do things. We become less of a doer and more of a spectator. Does this mean that we should just throw in the towel and turn into couch potatoes?
Psychologists tell us that doing something rather than nothing is crucial to our emotional well-being. Being active and productive is important to our physical and psychological health. Staying active and productive helps to create satisfaction and fulfillment.
What is the secret to staying happy and healthy in your older years? The secret to staying happy and healthy is having a reason to get up in the morning.
What gets you up in the morning? Hopefully, it’s more than a bowl of cereal.
You need to have a project or hobby. You need to have something positive to look forward to. Go on an adventure. Plan a cruise. Go on a hike. Volunteer at the hospital. Join a club. Do something you’ve never done before.
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in a movie, The Bucket List. In this movie, the two characters played by Nicholson and Freeman make a list of things to do before they “kick the bucket”. Some of the things on the list include: sky diving, driving motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, and going on an African safari.
Now you may not be able to do the kind of things shown in the movie, but why not make your own bucket list? What’s keeping you from doing something you’ve never done? The point is: stay active and get involved in doing something fun and productive.
If you’re like me, then you have fewer days ahead of you than you have behind you. But that’s not keeping me from making plans. There are things I want to do. The question is: What do you want to do?
I’m glad there are people, like Willie Mays, who are not content to sit around and do nothing. They inspire me to think about what I want to do with my life.
Something exciting is waiting for you. Make a bucket list and start doing the things on your list. There are people to meet, places to go, and things to do.
Life goes on, and even though we may not be able to do the things we once did, we can still do a lot. You may have heard the saying: “You’re only as old as you feel”. The Bible says something similar. The Bible says: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). In other words, you’re only as old as you feel. How can you feel younger than you really are? The secret of feeling younger than your age is staying active and doing something positive with your life.
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