Do We Age Like a Fine Wine or Outdated Computer Hardware?

How we age — and perceive aging — is a choice we get to make.

Photo by Scott Warman on Unsplash

Birthdays can be a mixed bag for most people.

I’m going to generalize here — but most people have 1 of 3 responses to their birthday:

· Joy

· Dread

· Utter nonchalance

I’ve seen all of the above among my friends and family. Hell, I’ve shifted between these myself.

My 30th birthday freaked me out. But my 40th simply occurred. My 50th is upon me — and I phase between utter nonchalance and joy towards it.

Overall, I love my birthday. It’s a personal New Year’s celebration as far as I’m concerned. That’s exciting — it means that there is new potential, possibilities, and a whole new year unfolding.

Most people react particularly strongly to major birthday years. Any age ending in 0 (i.e. 30, 50, 70) or ages ending in 5 (i.e. 25, 65, 75).

Society and the collective consciousness have a lot to say about aging. And because of “milestone” ages and expectations for achievement by a certain age — this can cause the joy, dread, or utter nonchalance people have towards their birthdays.