I wrote about this topic a few years ago when I was let’s just say not happy that I was dubbed a Senior Citizen, but now I feel vindicated. Throughout the years, I have been reminded by well-meaning friends and relatives that we are all getting older. We should just take the senior citizen discount, even though being slightly north of 50 is not really that old. We qualify. But according to the well-known physician and author Christiane Northrup, we should in most cases refuse the senior discount! The money we save is just not worth the psychological price.
When listening to the book on tape, and thumbing through a hard copy of Northrup’s Goddesses Never Age, I am reminded that ageist views need not be tolerated, that we can live agelessly, and that we can do whatever we want and not let chronological age inhibit our plans. The mantra Happy Healthy Dead that Dr. Northrup repeats is something we should embrace. We can live our best lives after 50 and not look back. We can be happy and healthy and not anticipate decline, because we need not decline.
When I turned 40, I bought the book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra. In it, he explains that there are three ways to measure age. Chronological age is based on the date you were born, biological age is your cellular age, and psychological age is how old you feel. Like Northrup, Chopra acknowledges that we are as old as our bodies age, and not necessarily as old as our birth certificates claim.
So my plan is to treat my body well, eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, do lots of yoga and meditation and reiki, and get enough rest and exercise. If I am at my best, I can take or leave the senior discount and not over-think it. On the other hand, it is not a bad idea to take a stand against ageism. Senior discounts do have a negative connotation, and as with any prejudice, the practice hurts society.