It was incredible to watch the old rockers perform at the 12/12/12 concert, particularly some of the oldest like Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend and the Rolling Stones. I don't know about you but I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that 70-year-olds could rock out like that. McCartney's "reunion" with Nirvana made you believe the guy has found the fountain of youth. Wow.
A couple of thoughts here -- for one, 70 years old ain't what they used to be even one generation ago. My dad died at 70 years old and he was pretty frail there at the end, and my grandparents died well before they were 70. Yes, McCartney is blessed with great genes and a whole lot of money, but his longevity has to at least be partly attributable to gains we've all made in nutrition and exercise. I doubt my father and grandparents ever did a lick of exercise in their lives, they ate pretty much what they wanted to and they smoked.
The other thing about aging is that you gain a whole lot of perspective and comfort as you grow old. I really believe that, and what's more, I feel it. It's one of the best things about growing old, in my opinion. I find myself feeling much more comfortable in my own skin than probably any other time in my life.
Why? Because I'm not really worried anymore about what's to become of me. When I was in the 20s and 30s, a million questions filled my head -- would I get married, have kids, could I make a career out of writing, would I be promoted, would they like what I've written, would I lose my job, buy a house, have enough money for a car? All that noise made it tough to see the forests from the trees.
Those concerns, luckily, are by the boards. The questions have been answered and mostly in a positive way, better than I could have imagined. So, these days, I'm comfortable in my skin. I still hope to write more books, maybe even a screenplay or two, but whatever happens, I feel like I've been blessed with the right answers to all those questions from my youth.
For more by Paul LaRosa, click here.
For more on aging gracefully, click here.