Elevating Through Aging

Welcome to all. I consider it a treat to have this further opportunity to say a few words to you. My topic today is Elevating Through Aging.

Everyone now listening to my voice is aging—aging every day. Most of you are too young to think much about it, but the day will come when you will think about it a great deal. Most of history’s greatest writers and thinkers were obsessed with aging and its denouement, death. Their writings talk endlessly about aging and its mysterious end.

Today, I’ll give you this older man’s view of aging—and of its denouement.

The famous late U.S. TV anchor Andy Rooney once said:

“The best classroom is at the foot of elderly people.”

I hope I can prove that true in some small measure.

Most people loathe age. They think that age means a diminished self—but, oddly, I have found that it can also mean the reverse: a better self. As much in need of improvement as I am and always will be, I am a much better person today than I was 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

Simply aging must get a lot of the credit—along with more than 50 years of reading a book a week most weeks, co-founding dozens of businesses, and giving 25 years of my spare time to coaching youth baseball, a game I played in college and loved.

One of the most arresting statements I ever read about self-improvement came from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who put it this way:

“When I let go of what I am,

I can become what I might be.”

He continued to improve himself all of his days because he let go of what he thought he was—his self-image. That allowed him to change and elevate his image of himself.

What might you be if you let go of what you think you are? You, I, all of us need to let go of what we are and allow ourselves to become all that we might be.

I was raised in a very religious family and attended religious schools for six years. I was taught to “let go; let God.” Whether or not we believe in a supreme being, we do need to let go—specifically, to let go of the self-imposed limitations and inferiorities that most of us place on ourselves, some of which can even lead to stuttering.

We must allow ourselves—give ourselves permission—to rise to our highest possible levels.

Consider the great baseball pitcher Satchel Paige, born in 1906. Because he was Black, he was barred from the Major Leagues until the ban was lifted—when he was 42 years old. He continued to pitch in the Majors until he was 59, long after most players had retired.

Hounded endlessly by the press, he once answered the question “How old are you?” this way:

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?”

Hold that thought.

Close your eyes for a moment and keep them closed as I count to ten. When I reach ten, ask yourself this question:

If I did not know my age, how old would I say I am?

Write that number down.

I wrote down a number about one-third fewer years than I actually am. I suspect many of you did the same. In truth, if we deny knowing our age, we have no real sense of it at all.

Another approach to age is simply to ignore it. When asked my age, I’ve often replied:

“Age is a number, and mine is unlisted.”

It seems wise not to define ourselves by numbers. Our white hair already says what needs to be said.

What’s the point? Age and health are feelings—feelings of timelessness. The more timeless we feel, the better we feel, the better we look, and the better we function.

Keep creating.

Keep thinking.

Keep working.

Let what you do define your age.

When we do not focus on aging, we feel ageless. What we refuse to focus on—consciously or subconsciously—does not exist in our minds.

This principle applies to all mental issues, including speech. When we do not focus on speaking but simply speak, speech is as easy as breathing. This is the true Law of Fluency. But we must adopt it and dictate that thought into our minds.

By changing the image we project—whether a comic, an actor, a salesperson—we become that image. To speak better and better, we must see and hear ourselves as the great speakers Mother Nature intended us to be.

Speaking is as easy as breathing. Fluent speaking is as natural as aging.

When we visualize the speaker we wish to be—and consistently see and hear ourselves that way—we become that speaker: relaxed, confident, convincing, and excellent.

The first step to a healthier life is not to define yourself by your age. Ignore the number. If you truly did not know your age right now, you would have no idea how old you are.

What you feel about your age is what you impose on yourself. You can—and should—conduct yourself as whatever age you choose.

Age is a two-edged sword. It can hurt us or help us; the difference is attitude. Yes, some physical and mental abilities may slowly decline, but many skills improve with age, and continued learning makes us wiser—sometimes until our very last breath.

While age eventually takes all of us out, many of us grow better at living right up to the end.

Life is between our ears, and so is age.

Which person will you be—the one who slowly declines, or the one who grows better day after day, year after year? Just as we can overcome stuttering and keep improving our speech, we can improve many areas of life.

Most people fear aging and fear death even more. Yet death need not threaten us. When we go, the only person who does not know it is the deceased. So why worry?

Where was I before I was born? I don’t know. I felt no fear then, and I won’t afterward. As Voltaire said:

“I view death as the great sleep, and I’ve never minded sleep.”

Aging is, in many ways, a blessing. We learn, understand more, and deal with life better. Everything is “use it or lose it,” so we must keep doing as much as we can for as long as we can.

Age, like stuttering and like life itself, is largely mental. I leave you again with the words of psychiatrist Dr. Frank S. Caprio:

“We have free choice to accept or reject thoughts…

Believe that you can improve—and you will.”

So, I choose to think of aging this way:

I’m not aging—I’m marinating.

Think of aging as learning, growing wiser, stronger, and more resourceful. Age is between our ears; it is what we make of it.

Confucius said:

“I am so full of joy that I do not notice the onset of old age.”

Let us follow that example and let our aging pay dividends for all we help.

I’ll close by sharing a poem I wrote when I turned thirty-nine—a time of uncertainty, but also of hope…

(Poem unchanged)

Even then, I believed that joy predominates and that there is a rise for every fall. That belief—and the actions that followed—made it true.

So now, I pass the ball back to you. Accept it. Do your best at whatever you choose to do, and keep expressing your love of humanity.

That ends my remarks today.