The Sidney herald., 1956-12-06
When You Retire


Wear Your Years as a
Badge Of Honor
"Golly, but / wish / were TWEEN
ty againi" a businessman con
fided to me last week on his SIT
birthday. AS he gestured towart
his balding hairline and bulginl
waistline he seemed genuinel.
to resent the fact that he wa
growing old. His attitude reflect
our current v~eneration for youth
Such an attitude spells defea
in retirement. Anyone who yearn'
to turn back the clock and bt
Young again is destined to en-
counter a hatful of self-pity an-
disbursement when he retire:
and has more time for bordering
life's ills and irritations. Mer
and women who harbor a re-
sentiment toward the normal pro-
cesses of growing old should
take steps to develop a healthy
outlook toward age before they
retire.
Why do so many folks cling
vainly to their youth? Probably
one offender is the modern adj
vertisement. We are bombarded
daily by ads featuring radiant,
pink-cheeked youngsters VINO
gaily assure US that driving such
and such a car will make us
feel young" again, and that eat
ing such-and-such a bread will
give us youthful energy" Even
movie actress Gloria Swanson,
who is pushing 60 and is old
enough to know better, offers a
line of fashions for mature wo-
men under the fawning label,
Forever Young.
What, we may ask, is wrong
with being m~iddle-aged or old?
AS victims of this daily campaign
for youthfulness it's small Won
der that many people feel resent
full and insecure when their hair
begins to gray and their chlns
begin to double.
The Orient, of course, has a
traditional esteem for age. So
biologists record that in ancient
cultures such as China men and
women custonarily prefer to look
older than they actually are.
But in North America the reverse
is true and we place a premium
on youth oct of all proportion to
its actual merit.
l suspect our craving to remain
young has something to do with
the fact that u country Itself
S relatively young. 1t took a
lot of muscle power to transform
several million square miles OF
.errain into an agricultural and
giant. AS a consequence
which has something of a.
monopoly on muscularity and
physical endurance, has come to
De regarded in the public mind as
much more important and de-
status than old age.
Now that the machine age has
made muscles less important, we
ire gradually awakening to the
act that the second forty years
are just as important as the first
,orty. 1t is quite likely that as
line passes and our nation grows
more seasoned and experienced,
I'D age will be accorded increas-
ng prestige.
Sir Winston Churchill, who viii
90 next November, is n of
cores of prominent elders who :
publicly endorsed the salts
actions OF age. When he stepped :
own from his post as Prime :
Iinister of Great Britain a re- :
orter asked what his attitude :
as toward old age. Il a tell p.
Oh this" he replied firmly, lit
less satisfying to be young !;
to be eighty" !
Let's take a cue from Sir Win I
on and spend an hour contem- !
the satisfactions of grow q
g old. Let's begin taking pride :
our birthdays and, instead of :
separately hiding u age as '
Tough it we're an offensive Sc y
let's wear our years as a u
of honor. By so doing we'll
.prove our own attitude toward E
old and will influence ,
hers TO accept their years with "
and equanimity. =