There was a time when getting older followed a fairly predictable script.
You worked. You retired. You collected Social Security. You slowed down. The children worried about you. Eventually somebody started asking whether you should still be driving.
That was the script.
But something very interesting is happening.
The script is being rewritten.
People are living longer. Medicine is changing. Artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday life. Cars are beginning to drive themselves. Groceries can appear at your front door without a trip to the store. Doctors can monitor certain health conditions remotely. Video calls let grandparents see grandchildren thousands of miles away.
And an 80-year-old with a smartphone may have access to more information than the president of the United States had a few generations ago.
That doesn’t mean getting older suddenly became easy.
It means getting older became different.
And perhaps one of the most important abilities we can develop in Elderhood is something that rarely appears on a medical chart:
Adaptability.
We Have Already Lived Through Extraordinary Change
Older adults sometimes hear that technology is changing too quickly for them.
Really?
Think about what today’s older generation has already adapted to.
Many of us grew up when television was a new invention.
Some families had one telephone attached to a wall.
Long-distance telephone calls were expensive enough that you occasionally wondered whether the relative you were calling was worth the price.
There was no internet.
No email.
No Google.
No GPS.
No Amazon.
No smartphones.
No online banking.
No streaming television.
No artificial intelligence answering questions in seconds.
Yet here we are.
We adapted.
That may be worth remembering the next time someone suggests older people cannot learn something new.
The people entering their 70s, 80s and 90s today have already lived through one of the greatest periods of technological and social transformation in human history.
We aren’t newcomers to change.
We are veterans of it.
Aging Is Changing Along With Everything Else
One of the central ideas behind Elderhood is that growing older does not automatically mean surrendering control of your life.
As we discussed in Aging Is Inevitable. Decline Is Not., aging and decline are not exactly the same thing.
Our bodies change. Recovery may take longer. Hearing, vision, balance, muscle strength and memory can change. Chronic medical conditions become more common.
Those realities deserve respect.
But there is another reality.
There are things we can influence.
Movement.
Strength.
Nutrition.
Social connection.
Medical care.
Sleep.
Mental stimulation.
Our willingness to learn.
Our willingness to adapt.
The National Institute on Aging emphasizes that healthy habits and managing health conditions can help older adults preserve quality of life and independence.
That is a very different message from simply accepting decline because another birthday arrived.
Independence May Look Different in the Future
For previous generations, losing the ability to drive could dramatically reduce independence.
Think about what that meant.
No car could mean difficulty getting groceries.
Difficulty visiting friends.
Difficulty getting to medical appointments.
Difficulty going to restaurants, stores, church, clubs or social events.
Eventually the world could become smaller and smaller.
Now consider what is emerging.
Ride-sharing already allows millions of people to summon transportation from a phone.
Grocery delivery can bring food directly to the door.
Telemedicine can sometimes eliminate the trip to a doctor’s office.
And autonomous vehicles may eventually allow people who can no longer safely drive themselves to maintain far more mobility than previous generations could have imagined.
That technology is still developing, and nobody should pretend every transportation problem has been solved.
But look at the direction.
The definition of independence itself is changing.
The objective may no longer be:
“Can I do everything myself?”
It may become:
“Can I use the available tools to continue living the life I want?”
That is adaptation.
Your Health May Be Your Most Valuable Appreciating Asset
When we are younger, we tend to think about appreciating assets as houses, investments and retirement accounts.
In Elderhood, health deserves a place on that list.
Money certainly matters.
But imagine reaching 90 with enough money to travel and no physical ability to leave the house.
Now imagine being 90 and still capable of walking, visiting friends, going out to dinner, traveling, learning and participating in life.
Health gives value to almost everything else we worked to accumulate.
Physical activity is one important part of protecting that asset.
The CDC guidance for adults 65 and older recommends a combination of aerobic activity, muscle strengthening and balance work, adjusted for a person’s abilities and medical circumstances.
The National Institute on Aging likewise reports that physical activity can support strength, balance, everyday function, emotional health and independent living.
Nobody needs to become an Olympic athlete at 80.
That ship may have sailed, circled the globe and entered dry dock.
The goal is much simpler:
Protect your ability to function.
Walking matters.
Standing up from a chair matters.
Carrying groceries matters.
Maintaining balance matters.
Getting yourself dressed matters.
Climbing stairs matters.
These ordinary activities may be more important measures of wealth in later life than the balance on a brokerage statement.
Adaptation Also Means Keeping the Brain Engaged
Physical adaptation is only part of Elderhood.
Mental adaptation matters too.
Learning a new technology can be frustrating.
So can learning a new language, using a new banking system, understanding Medicare, figuring out a smartphone update or trying artificial intelligence for the first time.
Occasionally technology seems to have been designed by a 24-year-old who assumes everyone else is also 24.
But frustration is not the same thing as inability.
The National Institute on Aging’s information on cognitive health discusses the potential value of staying mentally and socially engaged as we grow older.
Learning itself gives us another reason to remain involved with the world.
That is why Elderhood should never become a waiting room.
There is still something to learn.
Something to try.
Something to understand.
Something to teach.
Something to contribute.
Artificial Intelligence Changes the Equation Again
Artificial intelligence may become particularly important for older adults.
It can help explain complicated information.
It can translate languages.
It can help prepare questions for a doctor.
It can explain unfamiliar terminology.
It can help write letters.
It can compare information.
It can teach someone how to use technology.
It can serve as a remarkably patient tutor who doesn’t roll its eyes when you ask the same question three times.
Artificial intelligence can also make mistakes, so important medical, financial and legal information should still be verified with reliable sources and qualified professionals.
But dismissing AI because it is imperfect would be like dismissing automobiles because they sometimes break down.
The important question is how we learn to use the tool intelligently.
In The Future Is Closer Than You Think, we explored how quickly science, medicine and technology are moving.
For an older person, that creates a fascinating possibility.
Something that does not exist today may improve your life five years from now.
But there is a catch.
You have to remain engaged enough to take advantage of it.
Social Connection Is Part of Healthy Aging Too
Adaptation does not mean doing everything alone.
Human beings remain human beings at every age.
We need conversation.
Friendship.
Purpose.
Affection.
People who notice when we haven’t shown up.
People to laugh with.
People who occasionally tell us we’re full of baloney.
The National Institute on Aging’s guidance on loneliness and social isolation notes associations between social isolation and increased risks involving physical, emotional and cognitive health.
Technology can help here too.
A video call is not identical to sitting across the table from someone.
But it is a lot better than isolation.
Online communities, educational programs, volunteer work, clubs, hobbies and social groups can all help us continue participating.
The goal isn’t merely to stay busy.
It is to remain connected to life.
We May Need a New Definition of “Old”
Look at a photograph of a typical 70-year-old from the 1950s.
Then look around today.
Something has changed.
Not biology.
Seventy is still seventy.
But expectations have changed dramatically.
People travel later in life.
Work later.
Exercise later.
Date later.
Start businesses later.
Learn technology later.
Go back to school later.
Create videos and websites later.
Begin entirely new chapters later.
That doesn’t mean every older adult is healthy or financially secure.
Far from it.
Aging brings genuine challenges, and some people face severe illness, disability, isolation or economic hardship.
But we should be equally careful about the opposite mistake: assuming incapacity merely because someone has reached a particular birthday.
Age tells us how many years someone has lived.
It doesn’t tell us what tomorrow has to look like.
The Elderhood Mindset
Perhaps this is the larger lesson.
The world will continue changing whether we approve of the changes or not.
We can spend our later years complaining that things aren’t the way they used to be.
And occasionally we will have a point.
Some things really were better.
But nostalgia is not a strategy.
The better question is:
How can I use what exists today to make the years ahead healthier, safer, more interesting and more independent?
That is the Elderhood mindset.
Stay physically active within your abilities.
Protect your strength.
Keep learning.
Stay socially connected.
Ask questions.
Use technology rather than fear it.
Prepare for problems before they become emergencies.
Stay curious about what comes next.
And don’t assume that because something has always been done one way, it must continue being done that way.
We Are Not Finished
Perhaps the greatest mistake society makes about aging is assuming older people are approaching the end of their usefulness.
Experience says otherwise.
By the time we reach Elderhood, we have accumulated something younger people cannot download, purchase or manufacture overnight:
Perspective.
We have seen recessions.
Wars.
Political upheavals.
Technological revolutions.
Personal victories.
Disappointments.
Deaths.
Births.
Marriages.
Divorces.
Career changes.
Good decisions.
Bad decisions.
And enough mistakes to know that being absolutely certain doesn’t necessarily mean being right.
That perspective has value.
The challenge is combining the wisdom accumulated over decades with the tools appearing today.
That combination could produce something previous generations never had.
Experience plus technology.
Wisdom plus information.
Longer lives plus better tools for living them.
We cannot stop aging.
And we shouldn’t waste our time trying.
The better objective is to remain strong enough to participate, curious enough to keep learning, connected enough to matter to other people and adaptable enough to meet whatever comes next.
The larger truth of aging may be surprisingly simple:
Aging is inevitable.
Change is inevitable.
Adaptation is the choice we still get to make.
And that is what Elderhood is all about.
Elderhood.info provides educational information and is not a substitute for individualized medical, legal or financial advice. Before beginning a new exercise program or making significant changes involving your health, discuss your circumstances with an appropriate healthcare professional.