This is an invitation for younger persons to join The Sea of Faith in Australia. There is a place for you.
From the source, Steven Petrow, “I want to avoid the ‘aging mistakes’ my parents made. I’ve got work to do.” The Washington Post, 22 March 2026:
1. Hold yourself accountable: Find an “accountability partner,” suggests Chip Conley, author of “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age,” or make public certain promises to yourself. An accountability partner is someone in your life who can help you stick with your plan, and hopefully help get you back on track (in a non-judgmental way) if they catch you lying about your age, for example.
2. Don’t become hostage to denial: My next-door neighbor, 85, still cleans his gutters by getting up on his roof, despite his sister and me haranguing him – and this is after he was felled by a tree he tried to cut down by himself. It’s true that stubborn denial of aging can be helpful sometimes, so that we don’t give up too soon and begin to narrow our world. But we also need to be realistic about how things are changing. Unless you’re really unlucky (by dying young), no one escapes aging. Period. I think if my friends tell me I need to listen to them (so to speak) and get a hearing aid, I won’t push back or deny it’s an issue. About half of adults 60 or older have hearing loss and nearly all people 90 or older do, but only 15 to 30 percent of people who need hearing aids get them. Just as standing on your roof probably isn’t a great idea as you get older, pretending that your hearing is fine can have real-world impact. Untreated hearing loss can interfere with your ability to socialize and increase the risk of dementia. (Hearing aids can cut your risk of cognitive decline nearly in half.)
3. Think about how you want to do things differently as you age: My friend, fitness expert Denise Austin, 69, insists that we keep moving, rather than become sedentary. It’s not always easy to stay mobile as you age, but you can try walking and stretching for starters. Austin also reminds people of the importance of keeping a positive attitude as we age, which many studies also support.
4. Keep current with new technologies: From hearing devices to new communication methods, staying up to date can not only help you keep in touch with people, but it could benefit your brain health. A 2025 meta analysis published in Nature reported that the greater use of everyday technologies, like smartphones and laptops, was associated with reduced odds of cognitive decline among those over 50, including mild cognitive decline and dementia diagnoses. So figure out how those buttons work on the remote and don’t be embarrassed to ask for help sorting out the new features on your iPhone. Yes, it takes effort; yes, it’s worth it.
5. Be grateful, avoid hubris and keep a sense of humor (especially about yourself). If I were to rewrite my book on aging, I’d have included this advice front and center. I’d also be less harsh in my judgments of my parents. I’ve learned that walking in their shoes changes how I see this chapter of our lives.
Steven Petrow is a longtime contributor to The Post and author, most recently of “The Joy You Make” and “Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old.”
This is an invitation for younger persons to join The Sea of Faith in Australia. There is a place for you.
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Dr Neville Buch (ABN 86703686642)
Sea of Faith in Australia
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Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society (ANZHES)
Convenor, Sociology of Education Thematic Group, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA).
Regular Philosopher, The Philosophy Cafe Brisbane Meet Up.
Director, Brisbane Southside History Network (BSHN).
MPHA (Qld), Ph.D. (History) UQ., Grad. Dip. Arts (Philosophy) Melb., Grad. Dip. (Education) UQ.
“May I not hope to be heard with candor? God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and fill us with the love of truth and virtue.” William Ellery Channing, Delivered at the Ordination of Rev. Jared Sparks in The First Independent Church of Baltimore on May 5, 1819.
“The human mind always makes progress, but it is progress in spirals.”
— Madame de Staël (commonly attributed).
“The spiral is a spiritualized circle. In the spiral form, the circle, uncoiled, has ceased to be vicious; it has been set free.”
— Vladimir Nabokov.
“Beware of those who speak of the spiral of history; they are preparing a boomerang. Keep a steel helmet handy.” (Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin, 1952, p. 6).
Featured Image: Ischia Monte Epomea by Hans Rasmussen Buch.
Neville Buch
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