Wish your life away

When I was young, my mother used to tell me that she wished my life would end because I always wanted to be older. It wasn’t just that he wanted to be older, he wanted the privileges that came with being older. When I was twelve years old, I wanted to be thirteen so I could be a teenager. As a teenager, I wanted to be twenty-one so I could get a driver’s license and vote.

Throughout childhood and into the late teens, mid-twenties, it feels like time has stopped. Wanting to be old enough to go to school… get a driver’s license… date… get a car… vote… be considered an adult… and the years can’t go by fast enough.

When you hit your thirties, you’re in no hurry to watch the years go by quickly. Professional women realize their biological clock is ticking down, men start thinking about settling down and starting a family, and suddenly both genders are more than willing for time to stop, or at least slow down considerably. .

This is especially true in the workplace.

Many years ago, I was hired as the Director of Personnel for a department store and was told by the store manager that the most desirable candidates are in their 35s and 40s.

That seemed so unfair. What happened to the concept of life experience and work experience? Was that not important anymore? Were the other age groups supposed to just “slide softly into that good night”?

And then the baby boomers started reaching retirement age and they didn’t want to retire at 65. In fact, most of them couldn’t afford to retire at 65.

It is an amazing thing. When you suddenly realize that you haven’t saved enough money to retire, or when your retirement or pension fund has been misappropriated by your employer, you have to find the energy to keep working.

Our workforce, which used to be dominated by younger employees, has been aging and employers are being forced to hire them and recognize that experience counts more than, or at least as much as, youth.

It’s also a fact that, in addition to living longer, most older adults are healthier, act younger, and want to be more productive in their old age than they did in their youth.

Step aside, young wimps… the old ones aren’t ready to retire.

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