Are you preparing for takeoff or landing? - Ranching After 50

Back when I was a CBC news reporter, I was assigned a story on aging and health. I did my research and then found senior citizens to interview about their health and how the health system was serving them.

The most surprising thing I found was that most of the people I talked to expected to wind down and be sick as they aged. As I probed into this expectation, I found it was caused by society’s beliefs about aging, starting with doctors. Almost everyone believed old age meant sickness and decline, so older people started believing it as well and began to withdraw from life, becoming less physically active, getting out less and expecting less of themselves. Of course as they became less active and interested in life, they did get sick and declined. It would happen at any age.

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At the time I did that story, an Edmonton hospital had a geriatric program with one of the best teams of geriatricians in the world. The team leader, Dr. Skelton, gave many workshops to family practitioners around the province to help these doctors understand that aging is a natural process and not a form of illness. His favourite story was about old Fred whose left knee is sore, so he goes to see his doctor.

“How old are you Fred?” the doctor asks.

Fred: “Eighty-two.”

Doctor: “Well Fred, at your age you have to expect some health problems.”

Fred: “My right knee is 82 as well and it’s not sore.”

The question is: which lies about aging do you believe and how is it affecting your picture of the future? If you are older than 50, are you preparing for takeoff or landing? The conventional concept of retirement in itself is a picture of idleness and decline. My cousin Mike retired from a steel mill a year or so ago and tried the “golden years” approach: going fishing, playing golf and taking it easy in general. After the first nine months, he took on a contract to develop software for another steel company. He says retirement is fine for a while, but not as a way of life.

But does that mean you have to keep farming or ranching forever? No. But I think it is important to find meaningful things to do no matter what your age.

The Amish usually turn the farm over to the next generation when the parents are around 55. They sell the farm to the next generation at about a 10 to 15 percent discount from market price and the young folks continue to provide the parents with milk, meat and eggs. The parents move into the smaller “dodie,” or grandparent’s house on the farm and the younger generation move into the “big house.” The parents usually help with chores, unless they have other commitments, and they spend a lot of time helping with church and community projects. They are retired, but certainly not idle, and they still make significant contributions to community life.

What projects are you interested in that farming has kept you too busy to pursue? Are you getting ready to take off on your next big venture in life or preparing to come in for a landing? If you are feeling worn out from the struggle of making a living on the farm and planning on retiring, definitely leave time for an extended period of rest. But don’t plan on making it a lifestyle because you may become bored and disheartened. If you believe society’s lies about aging, you may think you can’t do anything else, but it is never too late to set out on a new adventure.

As the famous pitcher Satchel Paige, who was still pitching major league ball at age 60, used to ask: “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”

Elizabeth and I read books onto tape for our friend Clare Buckland, who at 92 is blind from macular degeneration, but is still vitally interested in life. She wrote her first book, Always Becoming, in her early 80s, and her second book, Always Becoming… Forever, a few years later, after she was blind.

To quote Paige again: “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

Edmonton-based Noel McNaughton speaks at conventions and for corporations on Farming/Ranching at Midlife – Strategies for a Successful Second Age. He can be reached at 780-432-5492, e-mail farm@midlife-men.com or visit www.midlife-men.com.