Will You Grasp It?

In his excellent review of two new books on aging and the compelling reality of longevity for older Americans, Jonathan Rauch touches on and triggers a long-standing personal reality.

When looking for work, I often encountered the perception: Oh, she’s old. My emphasis on my team sport (Dragon Boat paddler) and hiking (Nepal, Bhutan) sometimes helped shift this perspective, but eventually, ageism began to limit my opportunities.

Then, as a gift, when I approached what was once the average age of retirement, I was offered a new job. My younger and “reverse” mentor pushed me to accept it, and I excitedly took it on. Taking this job was the fulfillment of a lifetime goal. I wanted the chance to manage a substantial budget, lead a large team, and change a stale and entitled culture facing a competitive onslaught. While doing so, I would also be the first woman to lead this part of the business. Two years later, a younger, charming, and ambitious administrator pushed me aside for a pal. I never really fought this change and, frankly, I might have been complicit in the decision. Perhaps I had my own bias toward age, which clouded even my vision.

Today, as I rethink the last decade of my life, I reap the benefits of the advancements noted in the two new books: The Longevity Imperative: How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives by Andrew J. Scott, and Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age by James Chappel.

I mostly agree with Rauch's assertion that “Late adulthood is a time when prospects for earning diminish, but the potential for grandparenting, mentoring, and volunteering peaks. It is—or can be—a time of reorientation and relaunch.”

But not always for women. Women are still defined by their appearance and face a bias that is hard to challenge without a facelift or botox treatments. Except for the uber-successful first wave of women Fortune 500 CEOs, the next wave of leaders—those presidents and small business owners—find job offers scarce. The volunteer positions often lack the opportunity to contribute more wisdom than wealth and provide less satisfaction than we had hoped.

The last few sentences of this excellent article resonate with me: “Americans are receiving more than a decade of additional time in the most satisfying and prosocial period of life. This is potentially the greatest gift any generation of humans has ever received.” But then comes the challenging question: Will we grasp it? 

I think it’s time. Yes, I will.