Beyond the Green, into the Greys
Ageism
(upbeat music) Beyond the green and into the grace. Sharing my life with you, your truly hyphenated grace. (upbeat music) It's only in my fifties that I began to ask myself. Is it time for me to give up on my dreams? Is it time for me to forget my dreams? Is it time for me to let life be? Is it time for me to stop fretting? It is quite hard when that thought starts to set it. The world around will not be kinder either. Ageism is very real, I can tell you that for sure. There will be people around you who think that life is over for you. I have heard people remark about how this will be my last job. I don't think there are a lot of prospects for you anymore. Hardly anyone will think of you as a person with potential. So how does age define a person to this extent? I have noticed people casually making observations about my age. Sometimes they use it unthinkingly as a joke maybe. Sometimes maybe a deliberate attempt to silence me. I'm not sure, but age is definitely a topic of conversation. And as you grow older, those conversations are not so pleasant anymore. I don't think we are an elderly, friendly society. I don't think if I want to be respected because I am an older person. It is quiet irritating when people are not able to respect your abilities or your intelligence, but they feel obliged to respect your age. I don't think age makes you respectable. I think your actions do. Your deeds that reflect a compassionate heart need to be respected rather than the person who has lived a certain amount of time in this world. In fact, in these times, when science has increased our life expectancy, age should not be considered as a parameter for gaining respect at all. Going back to my thoughts on aging. As a young person, I don't think I was aware of the aging process. In fact, in my 20s, I thought 40s were old. In my 30s, I thought 50s were old. In my 50s, I know that age has caught up with me. But I don't feel very different from who I was in my 20s. I'm still excited about food, excited about evenings with friends, wary of working late into the evenings, excited about new projects, easy prey to sentiments, in fact, tears will flow profusely if I see animals in distress. I'm still the same. So what has changed really? Is it the fact that our society reminds you constantly that you're old? Is it the reducing number of opportunities in your workspace? Is it the fact that people ask you about your retirement plans? I have not been able to comprehend this well. But I do know that age catches up with you. If it doesn't, in the form of ill health, it will do so definitely through the society around you. And if you also look old, maybe even more than your actual age, then you come across plenty of comments and advices about growing old. Are you an older person being led to a place of the elderly by the world around you? Do you feel young at heart but is reminded by the society around you that you are not so young? Or have you installed the age meter within you, internalized the parameters that define you as aged by the world around you? Do take a look at yourself sometimes and let the young soul shine from within. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) You