The wit and wisdom of aging

There are some things in life where you either have to laugh about it or cry.

Aging can be like that.

Since it is something we can't avoid -- and the alternative is never good -- I prefer to find a way to laugh about it. Or at least gain some wisdom about its inevitablities.

Readers of Healthpsan have helped me with this. I have received many e-mails from you over the past two years sharing your wit and wisdom -- either found or original -- about this unavoidable thing called aging. They are all little encouragements, beautifully observed, that help us keep it going on.

In this end-of -the-year column I would like to share some of them with you.

Will Rogers, known for his wise and witty observations of the human condition, had plenty to say about growing older. To wit:

"The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra."

Here are some more good words on the subject sent my way and now returned to you:

"Do not resist growing old. Many are denied the privilege!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper -- it goes faster toward the end."

"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young." (Fred Astaire)

"If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old." (James Garfield)

And for those of us who stress about our spotty memories, take heart in this one: "Happiness is good health and a bad memory." (Ingrid Bergman)

Noah benShea, best-selling author and philosopher, shared with me a quote from his book, "Jacob the Baker" that should become an honored mantra in all of our lives:

"What grows, never grows old."

George Carlin has a routine on aging that several of my correspondents have passed along to me where he humorously explores the shifting perspective we have on getting older:

"Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!

"So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

"You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I was JUST 92.'

"Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'"

And as a final note, I will share with you my favorite bit of found wisdom concerning aging. It comes from that role model of elder vibrancy, Ben Franklin, who once said:

"Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young."

May you all have a healthy new year, filled with the kind of love, that will help you make it to a robust 100 and a half!

Dr. Michael O.L. Seabaugh, a Cape Girardeau native, is a clinical psychologist who lives and works in Santa Barbara, Calif. Contact him at mseabaugh@semissourian.com.