The Third Age
May 2008

The competitive ME generation is now officially playing the back nine and we are not going down without par on every hole. We’ve even got a fancy new label courtesy of advertisers aiming to please: we are The Third Age. By 2030, there will be about 71.5 million of us old farts around, more than twice the number of seniors in the USA during the last decade. Thanks to medical progress extending lives into the stratosphere, we will be 20% of the population. Will we choose to be a progressive and formidable demographic? Or simply morph into an overripe, diaper-clad, wrinkle-free, wheelchair bound, resource-sucking machine with perfectly white teeth?

We certainly don’t act our age. We act more like my former four-year old in a foot stomping fight with Mother Nature: “I refuse to, and I don’t choose to.” We are holding on tight to our youthfulness even if it comes via a bottle or a bimbo.

There’s an inordinate amount of cosmetic surgery going on, too: procedures in this multi-billion dollar industry increased by 457% in the past decade, and there has been a whopping 17% increase for men’s procedures since my (quite recent) fiftieth birthday alone. The most popular procedure for both genders is liposuction, followed by eyelids for men and breast augmentation for women. Is getting older on the outside when we don’t really feel it on the inside the ultimate bummer for a generation who grooved to You’re So Vain?

(Ok, so is it possible that you are NOT really 58, after all? Click here to learn your Real Age).

Vanity is completely sabotaged when us older folks can’t remember something obvious; we experience a senior moment and our mouths hang open in a frozen “O” before the brain reboots itself. This is called the trout look and it is as scary as it is pervasive. There is a popular cosmetic procedure¾ affectionately known as ‘the trout pout”¾that literally plumps lips, the same way a bicycle pump revives a flaccid tire. When a trout pout has a senior moment resulting in a trout look¾ well, you can see why the remaining 80% of our population feels the time has come to review what constitutes lewd and lascivious behavior. 

I think Albert Schweitzer had it just right:  Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. We can’t do much about the memory part¾maybe pop some extra magnesium¾ but we can do much about our current physical health, psychological happiness, and social responsibility. We need to use our powerful numbers to ignite a progressive quality-of-life discussion and create legislation that will lead us gracefully into, and through, our Fourth Age. We need to educate and inspire all Third Agers to improve their health via nutrition and exercise, if only to salvage our ragged health-care system. We need to create more opportunities for seniors to share their wealth of knowledge, humor, ethics, and wisdom with today’s youth. It’s rally-time Third Agers: let’s put our multi-billions of dollars into something that will make a difference to our grandchildren’s children and forget about our battle with the inevitable wrinkles. 

Speaking of rally - Yup, it's this weekend - UVM's 30th College Reunion. A nice kick-start to our regime of living long and strong is this event:

Dr. Miriam Nelson '83 author of Strong Women and Men Live Well at the Davis Center, UVM, Friday, May 30th, 1:00- 2:00, Livak Ballroom.

Dr. Miriam Nelson, is a bestselling author and nationally recognized nutritionist. She will provide the latest research on diet, exercise, health, and aging. In addition, she will provide strategies to help us live a longer, healthier, and happier life, as we grow older.

Dr. Nelson is the director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston. In 2007 and 2008 she served as Vice Chair on the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee for Americans for the US Department of Health and Human Services. She is also the author of the bestselling Strong Women book series selling more than a million copies worldwide.  She has also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, and the Discovery Channel.

Check out my “What’s New?” page. I work with corporate and private individuals who want to explore new business possibilities, refine work/life models, and generate rewarding change.

BrainStorm ©2008.    802.238.8586.