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Aging is inevitable, and there’s no reason to fight it. But it is fair to admit that, as we age, some things just don’t feel as enjoyable as they used to. I no longer want to wake up at 5am on Christmas morning, and I feel wrecked any time I stay up past midnight. Sitting in traffic is a lot more painful than it was for teenage me, and I no longer feel proud when I make a large purchase on my own. Spending money brings me more anxiety than excitement, and a busy weekend is something I often dread, as I know I won’t be able to feel refreshed on Monday morning.
To gain some insight on this topic, we reached out to gerontologist and host of the Aging Greatfully podcast, Holley Kelley. We asked Holley if there’s anything she has come to enjoy less and less with age, and she had an excellent answer: appointments. “I’m a huge advocate of everyone overseeing their best medical, health, preventative, and general well care,” Holley told Bored Panda. “The amount of these tend to increase as we grow older and spending more time at these various appointments isn’t something that is considered fun but they are still very important not to neglect.”
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But according to Holley, it’s perfectly natural for our preferences to shift with age. “Our preferences can shift for a variety of reasons as we grow older. For example, if you’re referring to a shift in cuisine preferences, this can be due to the fact that our taste buds not only decrease but can become impaired with aging,” Holley told Bored Panda.
“These changes in taste can be due to medication, infection, medical treatments, smoking, or other injury, ailment or disease but are also a normal part of aging,” she explained. “My grandfather, who never enjoyed spicy food when he was younger, really enjoyed it later in life because it really stimulated his taste buds. We see older adults adding salt to their foods to activate taste. Similarly, our sense of smell can also tend to wane. So, taste tends to shift.”
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"If you are referring to general preferences shifting as we grow older, I believe this is not only natural but indicative of the fact that we are growing in our life wisdom through the amazing process of becoming," Holley shared. "In youth, we are finding our way and it is a time of great discovery. Through life experience, we learn, grow, adapt, discover and blaze our own distinctive trail to the best of us that has been there the entire time just waiting to be unearthed!”
And if anyone out there is a bit scared of aging, Holley has a great perspective on the topic. "It beats the alternative! And, aging is happening to all of us, from newborn infants to supercentenarians. Aging is our gift of life, if we’re lucky enough to be doing it," she told Bored Panda. "With that, not only do we want to do it as long as we can, we want to do it with a positive attitude and with passion, vigor and vitality. As we grow older, there may be some things we cannot do as we once did. But with some childlike wonder and an optimistic mindset, we can find FUNdamental ways to mine our passion and purpose in creative ways to give life meaning and even make a positive difference in the world around us.”
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Aging isn’t all bad. According to Holley, the best part of getting older is “Being able to answer ‘PRESENT’ to the roll call of life.” And as she shared with Bored Panda, there are plenty of things she actually enjoys more now than she used to. “With age comes a deeper appreciation for life and the opportunity to experience grand living by design,” Holley says. “I believe attitude plays a big role in our life experience. That doesn’t mean every day is rainbows and roses. Because as we know, life is full of surprises for all of us. It simply means choosing to take nothing for granted and cherish life’s special “whatisness” – big and small, in the spirit of gratitude.”
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“I remind my listeners to be active stakeholders in their growing older journey and design life on their terms to discover meaning, purpose and passion over and through the years,” Holley told Bored Panda. “Sure, growing older can have its share of challenges; it can serve up lemons we didn’t want.”
“But I love seeing how with resilience, grit and passion that bitter lemon can be sowed, and the next thing you know there’s an entire grove of lemon trees capable of serving lemontinis to the entire world. In other words, we can take that unfortunate circumstance and transform it into something greater than we ever realized was imaginable.”
"We continually fill our Virtual Treasure Trunks with the many Gems we collect along life’s way making us rich with Pearls of Wisdom, Emeralds of Empathy, Garnets of Gratitude and so many more. What fun we have mining for each of them in our life-long journey of self-discovery," Holley says. "With that, I invite everyone to love the st’AGE’ they’re in!”
If you'd like to hear more wise words from Holley, be sure to check out her podcast, Aging Greatfully, right here!
We also reached out to host of the B[OLDER] podcast, Debbie Weil, to hear her insight on the topic as well. Debbie is a 71-year-old former journalist, story designer, podcaster and grandmother of 6 who divides her time between the coast of Maine and New Haven, CT.
When it comes to things she's noticed she enjoys less over the years, Debbie told Bored Panda, "Going out to a nightclub or a party, staying up late, and then sleeping late the next AM. Much prefer to skip the party, go to bed at 9ish to read, and then get up the next morning at 6:30. I realized this about 10 years ago," she noted. But she also think it's natural for our preferences to shift as we age. "Partially because one’s tastes change and partially because one starts to be clearer about what’s important."
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