Since When is Being A Senior A Bad Thing?

Okay, so I'm a senior.  When did that become a bad thing?  Who decided that being a little older and a little wiser was detrimental to our health?  As seniors living in America, we should cry "Foul!".  At this point in our lives, our children are grown from babies to the point of driving and older, we are either starting new job adventures or are wrapping up first careers and, if we did it right, we learned how to say "no".  We should feel as good today as we did when we were  seniors in high school and thought we knew everything.  What went wrong?

I'll tell you what went wrong?  Someone sold us a bill of goods that defined senior-dom as the beginning of the end, the downward spiral, and time to get our affairs in order.  Pffffft to that!

If anything, the opposite should be true.  These are the 5 basics elements of senior-dom that should jump-start your enthusiasm for this next chapter in your life:

1. You hold the vote ~ More than 1/3 of the population is made of seniors and, unless you've been living under a rock, you know that seniors are more likely than any other population to get out to the polls and vote.  Now, you do the math.  In political races won by candidates by only 43% of the vote one can rest assured that the result came from the senior ballot.  Your vote counts - use it wisely.
2. You hold the buying power~ Let's use that same population statistic.  Seniors know when to spend, when to save, when to invest and when to hold the reigns.  Why?  Mostly because they have had the first 2/3 of their lives to learn what happens when they do it wrong.  At this point in our life adventure, we know where we stand and where we need to go financially.  Don't think for one second that investment houses, manufacturers and banks aren't paying attention.
3. You can re-imagine yourself~Many of us have had an opportunity to create that "bucket list" of things we want to do before we . . . well, you know.  Consider that list your guide of things you wanted to when you were busy building a life and didn't have time to do.  Your responsibilities will likely never leave you but your approach to handling them and how you prioritize them can change when you realize that you are now in the driver's seat.  
4. You know more than you think you do~Ever have to ask a 5th grader how to program your tablet?  Don't worry, you are not alone.  The only thing that stands in the way of your mastering that gadget is you!  We learn just the same way as older adults as we did when we were kids - by trial and error.  Just because we got older doesn't mean we got dumber.  It just means that there is still so much more to learn.
5. You can do it~  Want to meet a busy person? Find a senior.  We have choices ahead of us that we never had before.  Sadly, most of us don't know that the menu is out there waiting for us to engage. Take a class.  Travel. Meet up with friends. Volunteer.  Learn a new skill.  Don't know what it is? Google it!  But for pity's sake, get off the couch and do it.  

Don't let this fast paced, youth-oriented world we live in sell you that bill of goods that your life as you knew it over.  Turn the page and decide for yourself.

I hope The Realization Project will help you find that there is so much to be excited about in your 50+ years. Much to be aware of and much to beware.  I am looking forward to this journey we will take together.

Here's to being a senior and losing the marbles in my mouth!

~Carm