# How to handle aging

As we grow older, we start falling behind the [trends](trends.md) until we eventually feel like the world is moving faster than us:

- This only gets worse as we get older, especially as [technology](technology.md) keeps improving.
- While nothing is legitimately "new", there are *many* remixes worth enjoying.
  - Never give up the spark of curiosity that you once thrived on when you were a child.
- No matter how much you [maintain your appearance](people-2_image.md), your gray hair and wrinkles will signal your age.

Contrary to popular belief, we tend to become happier as we get older:

- As we gain [experience](understanding.md), our expectations tend to decrease until they're easier to [satisfy](mind-feelings-happiness.md).
- At the same time, this requires us to accept the losses that happened (wasted time, lost opportunities, etc.).

At a certain point, people stop seeing you more like an institution than an individual:

- The plethora of experiences you've accumulated has made you a complex person, with many nuances that make you special.
  - Whenever you say something, people will imagine that it was what someone with your background would likely say.
  - When you [make something new](mind-creativity.md), everyone will believe that it was inevitable because you had so many years to incubate the idea.
- Embrace it as a badge of honor and a type of [authority](power-types.md).

Don't dwell too much on the familiar past:

- Your [memory](mind-memory.md) has shifted the past positively, but those days were *not* as good as your nostalgia remembers them.
- Very often, *all* the problems that presently exist were around when you were young, but you're more [aware](awareness.md) of them now, or they've become [more ubiquitous](trends.md).

Instead, focus on what you can do now and in the future:

- [Planning out what you want](success-3_goals.md) (and more importantly, [doing it](success-5_persevering.md)) may be difficult with your declining health, but you're also smarter and wiser than you were.
- Keep fighting and pushing for what you want, and don't relent to the idea that you're "too old" to do things.
  - If you're 45 and start playing a musical instrument, you'll have been playing for 20 years by the time you're 65.
- Even after your peak (between ages 30 and 50), you still have a ton to contribute to the world.

Regularly seek new activities and time with others:

- [Young people](maturity.md), especially children, will keep you young.
- Your peers will often have a bad habit of complaining about "the good old days", so spend *more* time around younger people.
- Find new, [fun](fun.md) things to do that stretch your limits, [physically](body-3_exercise.md) and [mentally](mind-memory.md).
  - Beyond being a thrill, those experiences significantly slow aging.

Losing motivation is perfectly natural:

- You don't have the energy or single-minded focus you used to have, so it's harder to do basically anything.
- It can be comforting to vent the problem with similarly-aged [friends](people-4_friends.md), but try to avoid complaining so much that it makes you more miserable.

Finally, as you grow older, learn to accept [death](hardship-death.md) as the conclusion of your life here.