This is an on-going dialogue about living your best life after 50. Please join me, and other Huffington Post readers, in discussing and debating the issues that are important to us.
Right this very second, in my head I'm screaming at the top of my lungs: "Put down the newspapers! Turn off the computer! Switch off the TV and radio! Stick your fingers in your ears and sing as loudly as you can to drown out the noise!"
Why? This week, the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank, came out with its latest study about baby boomers. I have never been too anxious about aging -- until I scanned the report.
While reading it, I felt my shoulders sinking lower and lower, my head started to ache and my heart seemed to grow heavier by the second. This visceral reaction wasn't because I was buying into what they were reporting. Far from it. It was because I knew that the media would have a full-blown field day with the findings, and the only thing that people, especially those over 50, would get from it would be that we are depressed, anxious, in a funk, glum and gloomy.
Right on cue, news outlets reported the findings of the study, and each one I read or heard made sure to play up the gloom and doom aspects of the findings.
After reading the study, though, I was encouraged:
This doesn't sound like a group of people who are ready to throw in the towel just yet.
What did cause me to get a little anxious, though, was this: according to the study, "Fully 80% say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today." This feeling of "being out of control" might be one of the reasons why so many people who participated in the survey came across as glum. But it doesn't have to be this way.
What happened to the generation of activists who changed the status quo, helped shape the world and fought for the rights of women and minorities? If we're not happy about the way things are, then we need to dig deep down and find that anger and sense of injustice and do something about it. Get involved. Vote. Rediscover the activist in yourself. If you see a problem, be part of the solution. We were the leaders of change for decades. We can lead again.
There certainly are enough of us to have a huge impact. And, it's growing. Every seven seconds, someone in this country turns 50.
According to the Pew Research survey, "The 79 million member Baby Boomer generation accounts for 26% of the total U.S. population. By force of numbers alone, they almost certainly will redefine old age in America, just as they've made their mark on teen culture, young adult life, and middle age."
It should be noted that of the 79 million, only 1,500 were consulted for this study. A good sample size, yes, but, as with all studies, we need to analyze the findings with a grain of salt.
We are a huge and very powerful political, social and economic force. We are also aware of the economic realities and how they specifically affect us, including the fallout from the recession, and the job market, and all of this could absolutely cause one to be anxious and lose hope. But it could also make you take action. It's a choice.
In this youth-centric world in which we live, it is often hard not to feel as though we've lost control. Far too often, society tells us that we should move over and be invisible because we don't have anything left to offer. Ignore it. Every day, I meet men and women on Facebook, and when I lecture, who are reinventing themselves, starting new careers, running marathons, taking up new hobbies, volunteering, creating new ways to earn money, staying engaged and connected. Right here on The Huffington Post there are wonderful, inspiring articles about people over 50 who are aging gracefully and with spirit. These people are not glum, gloomy or anxious. Concerned? Yes, but they continue to help shape our world in some very meaningful and important ways.
When I turned 50 a few years ago (I'm celebrating my 54th birthday this week), I was confused about aging, because I wasn't ready for it. It sneaked up on me so quickly that I was ready to do anything to hold onto my youth. Instead of running away from it, or trying to pretend to be, or look, younger, I made a life-changing decision: I embraced my age and decided to be the best I could be, at whatever age I was. That meant getting and staying fit, engaged, connected and enthusiastic about the world in which I live.
To help me with the many changes in my life after I turned 50, I researched and wrote "The Best of Everything After 50: The Experts' Guide to Style, Sex, Health, Money and More," a resource book for all of us. The information I gathered from some of the world's leading experts continues to guide me and keep me focused on my present, and my future.
Singer Melissa Etheridge says, in "Daring to Be Ourselves," We are getting older, and we are getting wiser, and we are getting freer. And when you get the wisdom and the truth, then you get the freedom and you get power, and then look out. Look out."
My message is simple: Do not let this new research shape your view of aging, of yourself, your life, your opportunities, and what is ahead. We are the biggest generation in history, with a big responsibility: to show future generations how to age with grace, dignity and courage. This could be our legacy, and our gift.
Staying connected is a powerful tool: Join me on Facebook, and connect with me on Twitter!
Follow Barbara Hannah Grufferman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BGrufferman
Rhoda P. Curtis: Aging Gracefully: Why Getting Old Is A Lot Like Being Young
We are 26% and have defined every age grouping that we have lived through.
We are NOT going to stop, and we have wonderful new tools to work with in the Internet and HP.
We also have more wisdom to use than ever before.
So let's be the best enlightened elders that we can be.
Information is our best resource and we live in an information age.
If we do not have control, let's go and find the information that is being kept secret and being manipulated to control us.
We cannot have a government "by the people" while our so called "free press" as well as our economic choices are corporate controlled, while elected officials are corporate controlled and routinely hide information for "national security" and while our banking system is out of our control.
IMHO, this greed has hurt our country and we can still do a great deal to fix it.
All the best in the New Year . . .
Barbara
I am constantly getting compliments on how beautiful my grandchildren are. When I inform the well-meaning person that they are my children, not my grandchildren, I suppress giggles as they stammer through an awkward apology!
Happy New Year!
Barbara
Women over fifty are a growing force, a ground swell of as yet unknown power and strength. They make a difference every day in both small and big ways and perhaps the results will not be as visible as a march on Washington, but the results are real just the same and perhaps more effective. I look forward to reading your book and reviewing it for the women of Aging Abundantly.
Happy New Year!!!!
Happy New Year!
All the best in the new year . . .
Barbara
as of late, I can't find any reason to read any more gloom and doom. After losing
everything in the " great economic meltdown ", I found myself on the old self -
destruction road of shame and fear. I will be starting Heart Rehab again,
and plan on making my way back to better health, hope and gratitude.
Thank you Barbara for your article. Hope to see more
I'm so glad you found this article, and I hope you'll stay in touch. Please take a look at my archived articles here on HuffPost. I write a weekly post, usually about life after 50, and it's always posted on Sundays, mid-day. The most important decision I made after turning 50 is this: embrace your age. Then, get yourself as fit as possible so that we can live good lives, for as long as we are here. I intend to be active, engaged, connected as I get older, and the best way to do that is to be as physically fit as you possibly can. Take a look at my articles, and also at my book for some solid, doable and sustainable ideas. I look forward to hearing more comments from you soon!!!
All the best in the New Year!
Best,
Barbara
Don't let 'em get you down. You are surely not alone. I adore your voice. Hence, I'm fanning you pronto.
A great New Year your way,
Cara
Joy your way, with admiration,
Cara
I will continue to dream about you as vivacious forty-something....
Thanks for reading and commenting. I always enjoy your posts here on HuffPost. And, if you've read my other weekly articles here on HffPost, and/or my book, you'll know that I agree completely with you: we need to focuson on what promotes well-being, and steer clear of the doomsayers.
All the best to you in the New Year,
Barbara
There is nothing new here except that this subject has had media coverage for a couple years. (Much of it half truths.)
I agree with you completely that "this subject has had media coverage for a couple of years, etc." That's the point. Nothing too interesting in the study , if you ask me, but it's how the media has played up the "glum and depressed" angle that concerned me enough to write this article.
All the best in the New Year,
Barbara
"Live, Love and Laugh"
That's what I do!!
Happy New Year, and please stay in touch!
Barbara
Great question! And I think you are right: we have always been change agents, and as the largest generation in the history of the world, we changed everything as we progressed: teen years, adults years, midlife, and now we will show the rest of the world, and generations who will come after us, how to age with style.
All the best to you in the New Year, and please stay in touch!
Barbara
those 75% had better STOP following the news and live their own reality now - it's no wonder they're glum
the 45% need to lay off the religious sauce unless it's a tool for community good works because the preaching and dogma will make anyone glum
the rest matches my experience. most of the teens and early-20 somethings I meet are not computer literate and I don't understand that at all. they don't seem to know much of anything or even interest themselves in issues that matters to them.
they don't even "protest" about things they feel strongly about and I find THAT particularly disturbing!
that 80% of Boomers seem unaware that they have the financial wherewithal and influence to change the way things are going in the country. it sounds to me like they're completely unaware of this fact. they need to be galvanised into action.
taking action feels great!
thanks Barbara, and no, am not anxious and never pay attention to studies unless it's significant like –edge scientific research - stem cell or something.
if we don't hear from you again until the new year, have a great one!
Catherine
Thank you so much for this wonderful comment!! You are always such a ray of sunshine, and clarity. Your spirit inspiring, and contagious. And, you are right: taking action is infinitely more rewarding than just standing by the sidelines.
Please keep your comments coming . . .
All the best in the New Year,
Barbara