It’s been reported this week that people are at their happiest at the age of 82 so that’s a reason to keep going! David Hockney is 82 and is embarking on a new venture so he obviously doesn’t think he is old.
I do agree that our state of health is a major player and if we are weighed down with health issues then that ages us. I saw that for myself when my mum had a hip replacement at the age of about 80. The relief from the intense pain she had been suffering meant she looked ten years younger afterwards! She’s still battering on in her own home, at the age of 92, although has slowed a bit in the past year or two. My sister died last year at only 72 and that was a heavy blow to us all.
It was a bit of a shock to me recently when I realised my Dh, in his mid-70’s, is now the oldest person in our street! The properly-old people all died last year so he, a mere whippersnapper, has had to step up in their place. No one keeps an eye on us though - we’re just the folks who take in the Amazon parcels for everyone!
The hospital where my dd is training doesn’t accept patients on the geriatric wards until they are at least 85yo and even then, if you’re otherwise healthy and with-it, you’ll be put on a ‘normal’ ward, so I guess that is a cheering measure of age, too.