IT’S GOOD TO GROW OLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23002, 3 October 1936, Page 27

IT’S GOOD TO GROW OLD

When one gets well into the forties it is time to start thinking about growing old. Naturally an individual of 47, 48, or 49 is still quite young, but it is foolish for that person to imagine that he or she is able to do the things youngsters of 20 or 21 can do! Youth will tell—there's not the slightest doubt about that, and many a person in the late forties has put several years on to his or her age by striving to keep pace with those 10 or 15 years younger. First and foremost one can enjoy growing old by going to bed a trifle earlier; next, it is possible to obtain enjoyment from advancing years by assuming a tolerant attitude towards youth. One of the chief causes of peevishness amongst people in their early forties is that argumentative attitude towards younger people. Let the young people say and do what they likfe, if you are to enjoy the process of growing old; don’t resent their ultra-modern ideas because they will be as old-fashioned as yours in a few years’ time. One can also enjoy growing old by commanding respect from the youngsters, and this cannot be done if one fails to realise that one is growing old. Don’t be afraid of the years you have acquired, but trade upon them instead. The individual who admits to being 38 or 40 can command respect because of the years of experience behind him or her, and ' ’ experience is the “little extra something that the others haven’t got"! Enjoy growing old! Take more time over your meals, spend an extra hour in bed in the mornings, think more of comfort and less of speed. Be proud of your years, not ashamed of them'— Home Chat.