I’ve been thinking a bit about old age lately.

From time to time I discover a book or TV show or movie and it gets me to thinking. I’ve been watching an old British show called Absolutely Fabulous. It deals humorously with the issue of aging, especially for women.

I was watching a video about various aspects of publishing lately and one of the 20-something speakers spoke disparaging about “old white dudes”. I felt a bit offended, and wondered if I considered myself to be old.

But that’s an attitude long held in the larger society of which I am a part. I’m not sure when it came about, but it has certainly been a thing my whole life.

Old age is looked upon as a disease. With a focus on the deterioration of the body and mind. Even in that TV Show, the oldest character is depicted as being senile. Ironically, the actress playing that role did so well into her 80’s. The fact is that most people do not lose their minds as they get older, though a slight increase in forgetfulness is normal.

Some diseases take longer to develop. Alzheimer’s is one of these. For this reason, it rarely is diagnosed in people until later in life. You also won’t see many teenagers at AA meetings. Though the young often have these diseases already, the symptoms aren’t significant or frequent enough to cause alarm.

The fact is that getting older is a good thing. The older I get, the more successful I am. If you are younger than me, take heart! Though you haven’t reached my level of achievement yet, I am very confident that someday, if you treat yourself right, you can be as successful as I am.

Every birthday is a celebration that you have done what it takes to extend your life another year. If you are alive today, you have a success story to tell. Running: A FEVER is my success story. What is yours?