When I’m in my old age if I do make it to be of old age, I hope and am looking forward to having a family and friends around while being retired so I can focus on my own interests without the stress of going to work and being worried so much about the next bill to pay and job to get. If I am fortunate enough to reach old age I would love to have a relatively large house in a nice community where I can live with my wife and just sit and enjoy each other’s company. We could have our children and grandchildren come over on occasions and when old friends visit we can reminiscence about the past and how were adjusting to old age. For me, spending time with loved ones would be the best part because I already do enjoy that with my friends and family but it can feel rushed with school work and jobs, and other responsibilities. I always imagine that in old age with more perspective and fewer responsibilities or expectations it will allow for me to spend more time with the people I want and also focus on new interests and explore new things I feel like I don’t have time for. I would also love to go out to dinners and new places with my spouse and grandkids when I’m in old age and then at the quiet and more relaxed times I can watch movies and sports as I always have.
For me, all of my expectations of what I look forward to involve being around the ones I love more often than I am now and having a spouse to spend my time with. In the class lecture SST or Socioemotional Selectivity Theory stated that older adults usually place an emphasis on spending time with people they are familiar with who they know they have had enjoyable experiences with in the past (Finley, 2020, slide 16). For me, I know that will very much be the case. The people I care for and love bring me a lot of joy and so I would hope that I can surround myself with them and do activities with them to enjoy my older years.
I also look forward to being wise and more intelligent than I am now so I can pass on that knowledge. I want to be able to gather a lot of knowledge throughout my life and do studies to try to make a difference and hopefully in my old age I will also be able to then pass on what I learned. In the article from The Atlantic by Linda Fried it suggests that our attitudes about aging play a large part in our health and that we want to continue to be helpful parts of society (p. 2). For me, by being able to hopefully pass on my own knowledge that will allow me to be both involved in my community and or an organization while also looking at my own aging in a positive way. Therefore, I think my hopes and dreams for my old age are similar to what current old people hope for based on the research. I in a similar manner to them want to be a part of my community and have those I love around me to socialize while still having meaning by being important.
In order to help accomplish this in my old age I don’t think money will be a large factor as long as I am comfortable enough to survive. All I need to do is continue on the path I am currently on, as I go to grad school and hopefully gain knowledge for the next 50 or so years that will bring me knowledge to accomplish my goal of passing on knowledge and being useful once I am older. As well, as long as I continue to care for my friends and love my friends, and one day hopefully in the next 15 year’s start a family of my own it will allow me to have socialization and be surrounded by my loved ones.
References
Finley, K. (2020). Positive Aging [PowerPoint presentation]. Retrieved from Moodle.
Fried, Linda. (2014). Making Aging Positive, The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/valuing-the-elderly-improving-public-health/371245/.
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