Why do I think there are so many wonderful benefits of old age? Well, for one thing, I can say and do almost anything I want and no one will think anything of it.
I can make an off-color comment and no one will think it's a come-on. No wife will think that I'm trying to entice her husband and no man will feel intimidated or take it as encouragement that I'm looking for sex. At my age, everyone will smile tolerantly and think I must be having fond memories.
At my age, I can say all kinds of things and no one will look at me askance. They will even let me win arguments that maybe a few decades ago they would have defended to the hilt.
Old age allows you to go anywhere and expect to be treated well. They probably look at me and think to themselves that I can't live forever so they let me have what I want because I won't be around that much longer.
At my age, it would be pointless for people to expect me to live up to their expectations. If I didn't do it when I was younger, I'm certainly not going to do it now that I'm old.
People often make the mistake of thinking that old age confers wisdom. It doesn't. It's just a reminder of how many years you have lived. These are the same observations I made when I was twenty and I doubt if I've gotten any wiser with the passing of years. But now, when I say something like this, I'm suddenly this wise old woman.
It's wonderful to be old. You have no idea how liberating it is. Most people want to grow old; they just don't want to be old. Well, aside from health problems that show up more in the elderly than in the young folks, but nowadays, people are getting more educated about their health and how to live better and stay healthier.
Jimmy Durante, a famous comedian, said, "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself" and Redd Fox, another famous comedian said, "Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing."
My advice to anyone who is past retirement age... now is the time to do all the things you've always wanted to do and didn't have the time or the courage to do. You will find that you have fewer obstacles to overcome, if, any at all, after you pass retirement age, so you might as well do everything on your bucket list now.
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