VIDEO: Aging with acceptance and optimism

by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Stress Management, Videos & Podcasts

Video Transcript by Machine for the sake of the search engines:

hello today is my birthday and of course  that’s not unexpected it’s done  scheduled it’s known it’s been coming  for quite a while and last few weeks  I’ve certainly thought about it more  than once the implications of reaching  this advanced age and I’ll admit my  attitude toward it was pretty well  reflected by the change in the seasons  as the day is that shorter darker damper  the leaves turned and fell from the  trees I was thinking about maybe I  should move into sort of an elder role  back off from some goals not expect  quite so much out of life and just turn  into an old man but I happened to hear  an interview with the actor Michael  Caine and he mentioned that at his 62nd  birthday which is the age on that right  now  he’s seriously considered giving up his  acting career because he wasn’t getting  the roles as the romantic lead anymore  they wanted him to be the secondary  character actor and he didn’t want to do  that but his good friend Jack Nicholson  talked him into taking one of those  roles and now that he’s 85 years old  he has continued to make a movie or  three every year including what Michael  Caine considers some of his best work  more important closer to home my good  friend Ralph Lee Smith who was a great  musician and the world’s foremost expert  on dulcimers he was in Greenwich Village  you know with the Beat Generation and  got to know Bob Dylan and Joan Baez he  had his 92nd birthday this week 92 he’s  30 years older than I am  30 years that’s a lot of life in the  past 30 years I I met married and raised  three fine adults with my beloved wife  Christine it may be just as many more  adventures successes disappointments  ideas I mean who knows what’s gonna  happen in the next 30 years  maybe I’ll get those and you know maybe  I won’t maybe I’ve just got today  like everyone we’ve only got today a  long string of “nows” now to appreciate  where we are what we’ve got and what  might be next to anticipate contemplate  and that’s what happens on my birthday  when I get a greeting from a good friend  like you who reminds me that I matter to  other people and that those other people  matter so much to me so your birthday  greeting makes a big difference to me  thanks for reaching out and reminding me  that what really matters is our impact  on other people and the impact of other  people on us I appreciate you and thanks  for reminding me of how much you  appreciate me happy birthday to us all  so long