Robert Nordmeyer celebrated his 70th birthday last Aug. 6.

Other articles by Robert Nordmeyer:

It's past time for Tucson to grow upGuest Opinion: We the people must make sure our governments are accountable

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor

I look at my hands and they remind me of my father. Interesting. I had thought of him as being old. I don't think that of me. I suppose everything is relative to one's perception, isn't it? He aged and I haven't. Yet our hands are alike. He died at age 70. As I write this, I am 69.

Photos of my father hang on our walls, reflecting his life in various stages. I see me, at times, in those photos. I compare us at different ages and I see similarities, yet I don't look upon me as aging in that progression of years. Agreed, my face looks older and there are moments when my body reminds me I am advancing in age. But my mind feels 30, ready to find new things, to experiment, to see various aspects in life through fresh eyes. My mind is going counter to what my body is doing and, at times, there is a conflict, sometimes a true battle. But the mind always wins. It wins because I want it that way.

It's not that I refuse to grow old. I have no aversion to that. I accept the fact that this shell that holds my intellect and spirit must deteriorate. That's inevitable, of course. But as I look upon that certainty as an undisputed truth I also see a dichotomy. Within this process there are two basic governing factors. One is involuntary and the other is voluntary. In that which we can't control, meaning the aging of our body, we allow. But with that in which we can have a say, meaning our attitude, we can direct.

To me, attitude is that constantly sought-after secret to life. If one were to climb the tall mountain looking for the guru to give a single answer to life, it would be attitude. There is no power that can totally control a situation other than attitude, and that power is the impetus that allows me to view myself as not being old.

And I do take advantage of it.

I will seize the opportunity while I can to parlay a positive, progressive attitude into the thrilling escapades and adventures that keep me young and fresh and invigorated. I will see myself as capable of doing anything I am intellectually suited for and mentally fit to do. If a new idea is conjured up in my brain, I can pursue it because creativity has no age limitation. If I see an opportunity to expand my mind, I will pursue it, for knowledge knows no age barriers. Any path that is available for exploring can be traveled, if I so desire, since there is no age restrictions on discovery. All I need in order to enter into these many realms of new opportunities is a will to pursue and a determined attitude to back it up.

In some ways, I have developed this way of thinking as a means of keeping my mind focused on life. So often people who have the power to remain young-thinking allow themselves to sink into oblivion simply from a disinterest in what lies just on the other side of that mystical and mythical barrier called old age.

This attitudinal approach to age is important to me. It draws into focus and deals with the very critical element that places people on different planes. That element is challenge. Never is a human's mind at its most invigorating moment than when challenged. All factions of the brain kick into gear when the person is faced with that moment of truth. Choices must be made, decisions are required, actions need to be taken, clear thinking has to surface and an open mind must let all facts and relevant matter flow through completely unobstructed and undaunted. The brain becomes alive and churns ferociously as it stands face to face with the challenge before it.

That to me is the true sense of living. And if a person pursues a youthful mind, then, barring genetically induced setbacks or unforgiving accidents, that mind will also work toward retaining a youthful body as well.

I have come to realize why I once looked upon my father as being old at my age. I have come to see why I view myself as not. I was looking at his body and not his mind. I was observing his physical limitations and not his spirit. I didn't come to know the depth of my father's nature. But I do now, and I see my father in me and I in him.

As it is, our hands are not the only traits that are similar.

And that is inspiring.

Expectations

A personal perspective on age