How Old We Feel
July 21, 2019
On June 30th I asked you to tell me how old you feel as compared to how old the calendar says you are. Here are the unscientifically-gathered, anecdotally-reported, prove-nothing, but interesting, results.
Almost everyone said they feel younger than they are. One or two respondents weren’t “sure”. The rest of us felt anywhere from ten to twenty years younger. One who had just pushed a big rock up a hill in her garden reported feeling twenty at that moment. Many of you said that regular exercising, including Pilates, yoga, and walking kept you feeling young. A few of us lift weights. One reported that how old she felt depended on how much sleep she had gotten the night before.
Here’s what Peter who is 89 and my most loyal reader wrote:
I'm not sure I know what it means to feel an age. I know what age I don't feel I am: Young. I don't think about my age until something or someone points it out to me. I feel old (maybe 60) when my back aches. I felt old (maybe 21) when I was 16 and a kid who was in an elevator with me and referred to me as "that man". I felt really old (61) when a pregnant woman offered me her seat on the subway. I'm easily swayed. I don't feel as old (or young) as I feel I am. I feel as old as other people feel I am which, most of the time fortunately, is younger than what the calendar tells me at those rare times when I remember what year it is.
Thanks to all.
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