Afraid of getting old? We’ve Got an New Acronym For You.

There’s a popular acronym that is thrown around a lot these days – FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. It causes people to stop thinking and be susceptible to the latest fashion, fad, or false promises.

Now there’s a new acronym on the block – FOGO – Fear of Getting Old.

It’s understandable. Our global population is swinging toward “old,” however you may choose to define that. We have a mystical mental tie to the number 65 as the point where “old” seems to begin to settle into our self-perception – hence FOGO.

FOGO is a choice-

-as is any fear.

FOGO is a projection into the future where fear is the chief resident.

It’s unfortunate, but not surprising, that this time travel into the future is creating sadness and adversely affecting our moods. However, it is a condition of our choosing because our thinking is the one thing in life over which we have total control.

I suspect we are drawing some of this sadness and fear as the result of observation of how “old” has affected others. We tend not to age well here in the U.S. The average American only lives to around 80 but with 12–13 of those final years in poor health with multiple morbidities. If we cast ourselves into that expectation, sadness is predictable.

Embrace the inevitable-

-and find the good in growing old.

I love the quote from Dr. Walter Bortz, retired Stanford geriatric physician, in his book “Dare to Be 100.”

“Life is a fatal disease. Once contracted, there is no known cure.”

You, me, and everyone you know are going to get old and die.

We have the choice to agonize our way through it or embrace and revel in it and leverage the good that exists in it.

Live in the moment.

FOGO is rooted in time travel. By that I mean, traveling to and wallowing in the regrets and guilt of the past or casting into the future where fear is inevitable.

The most effective antidote to our sadness and mood issues is to take today and make something of it using our talents and accumulated skills and experiences to be of service to someone.

Then rinse and repeat.

Fear and regrets cannot exist in the present moment.

Yep, I’m “old.”

I’m a chip shot from number 81 and officially qualify as “old” by cultural standards. I’m having the most productive time of my life continuing to create daily and being of service to someone somewhere with something.

I’ve learned that today is all I’ve got. My intent is to just string as many of them together as I can without worrying about whether tomorrow is even going to show up.

I’m not that much of an outlier.

Perhaps you aren’t aware that for the vast majority of people, the later years are the happiest. Research has revealed that, for most, there is a u-curve of happiness in which happiness is greatest in the early and late years, and hits bottom at mid-life.

It looks like this:

By avoiding time travel, staying in the moment, leveraging my talents and skills forward to help somebody, and embracing aging as inevitable, I’m finding it to be the most exciting time of my life – creaky knees and back stiffness notwithstanding.

The choice is ours. It starts between the temples.