When I’m Old I Want Young People By My Side

When the years begin to take their toll and my skin is scarred with wrinkles, I want young people and happy hearts by my side. I want my bones to hurt from laughing out loud and  I want my tired feet to keep dancing. I don’t want to lose the people who enthuse my soul and give me hope.

I share these desires with most people. But it’s also true that getting older isn’t fun. Besides the fact that you gain wisdom and personal balance, aging mainly means losing. You lose your youth, your health, your energy and even your future. And then you become aware that the most important things in life are your personal relationships.

“Knowing how to age is the masterpiece of life and one of the most complex parts of the difficult art of living”
-Henri Frédéric Amiel-

Arriving at the last stage of life with special people by your side is without a doubt the most valuable thing you can invest in and you should start investing now. Look for humble, wonderful and magical people with young minds who will add life to your years  and happiness to every candle you blow out on your birthdays.

People with young minds never age

Having a young mind is a privilege that few people have. Even some young people have the mind of an 80-year-old. Their horizons are not broadened by new perspectives and they leave no room for spontaneity, curiosity or passion for life.

These kinds of people are not helpful at all when you are climbing the last steps of your life.  During this period you need more strength, energy and positivity to relieve the physical pain of your bones, or of the loss of a child, or the sadness that sometimes hangs around you for no apparent reason, when existence is simply too heavy.

Cheerful hearts and young minds are your best allies helping you see things more clearly from the top of the mountain of personal maturity. Because  aging is, first and foremost, the art of staying hopeful and this is what you get from people who have such a special glow in their look.

It is the light in your heart that has suffered and healed itself that understands that every day is a new opportunity to be happy, whether you are 20, 50 or 70 years old.

I only want the best by my side

According to an interesting study published in the journal  Current Biology,  humans and macaques share much more behaviors than we think. One of those behaviors is that we  develop as we get older and become very selective in our friendships.

Obviously, many of us are already doing this before we cross the 70-year mark. But, like many primates, we have a vital need to seek support and companionship from significant humans in our lives when time is running out.

This was once explained by simple –  but incorrect –  reasoning. People said that as you get older, you have fewer resources and less energy,  so to play it safe, focus on what’s close to you. But today it’s clear that it doesn’t really work that way. In reality, both macaques and humans follow a fundamental law:  you must surround yourself with special people and enjoy a good, valuable time together. 

As children, we don’t apply this selection filter. We just cling to the first people we meet, be  it for love or friendship. But as we learn from our experiences, our internal compass slowly but surely begins to guide us and eventually we know what suits us and what doesn’t.

When you reach an old age, you still have the desire and energy to meet and socialize with people. It’s just that you become a lot more selective about this. You don’t simply appreciate everything anymore. Laura Ameling,  a scientist at the German Primate Center, found that elderly macaques hung out with a select few members of their group (regardless of age) and rejected the others.

Most of the time they devoted themselves to socializing in these small groups, which involved taking care of each other and grooming each other. Above all, they looked for enriching relationships in the last years of their lives. And the same goes for people. No one is more valuable than the people who are close to you every day.

To grow old in the best possible way, you should ideally surround yourself with young people. Brave people, full of light and strength, who continue to encourage you to learn, to enjoy and to face the difficulty of illness and loss. Because even though the passage of time is inevitable, aging in your mind and in your soul is an option that you should not choose.