Defining age

So how are you going to define age?

The problem with age is that it is a relative term. Depending on who you talk to, one person’s older is another person’s younger. The reality is, age is not an exact science. And our mixed-up view of what constitutes age is not helped by the different ways we have of looking at what age actually is.

Some people swear by the chronological. This is a marker based on years and months. Much favoured by young folk, it can often be a way to include and exclude people from events. It’s hardly fair, but it is all around us.

Also undeniable is the biological. Our bodies are all ageing at the same rate, but some people’s bodies’ age faster than others. And even then, different parts of our body age at different rates than others. One thing is for certain, it’s not an exact science.

Where it gets really interesting of course is in the psychological. We’ve all seen people being described as ‘old before their time’, and we all know people who are ‘young at heart’. It all comes down to a can-do attitude – we can stay younger by having a positive attitude to life, embracing new experiences and new friends.

Perhaps most important of all is the spiritual. Here our inner well-being comes to the fore; a place where self-fulfilment and reflection on what life is really all about can give us a calmness and inner peace that has real value.

So there is no such thing as simply getting older. Instead, it’s important to look at your physical, emotional and spiritual condition. And clearly, these can all combine to give us the kind of vibrancy and satisfaction that belies our progressing years.