Have you ever wondered why they call our retirement years, the years from 65 to 80 and beyond, the golden years? The phrase was actually coined in 1959 as part of an advertising campaign for Sun City, Arizona, the world’s first large-scale retirement community for active seniors. The goal, of course, was to portray retirement as a life of leisure; a time to travel, play golf, and pursue hobbies, but is it true?
For Christmas, I gave hubby a sweatshirt with one of his favourite sayings on the front. Retired: The ability to do what I want when I want. Lately whenever he wears it, he hastens to point out that it isn’t entirely true. These days, our lives seem to revolve around countless trips to the city for tests, scans, specialist appointments, and most recently, his prostate surgery. Maybe these should actually be called our rusty years because parts are continually breaking down and our bodies aren’t running as smoothly as they once did!
We certainly aren’t alone in this. At our recent senior bowling windup I looked around the table at our team and realized that all five of us either have or have had cancer. Many of our peers have had hip or knee replacements. Another has recently had a stroke and still others are waiting for biopsy results and/or surgery. No, retirement isn’t all traveling and playing!
I’m not really complaining… well, maybe just a little! I love the fact that we no longer have to rush off to work every day and that the government pays us for simply waking up every morning. I also realize that I’m fortunate to be alive. When I glance at the obituaries these days, many of the deceased are younger than me!
Some people claim that our true golden years are between 40 and 60 when we’re still physically and mentally fit and have probably reached some level of financial security. That led me to wonder, when were my golden years? When were yours? The first decade of my life, living in a waterfront house on the coast of British Columbia with the beach as my playground and the sound of the surf as my lullaby at night, was definitely golden. I look back on the years when my children were at home as golden. I loved that time of my life. There was a dark interval during the fourteen months that our oldest daughter fought her losing battle with leukemia, but even during that time, there were golden moments. When we were in our fifties, the year that we spent teaching English in Japan was golden.
2 Corinthians 4:16b says, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” In spite of the limitations of physical aging, I have no intention of passively resigning myself to coasting along and waiting for my name to show up in the obituaries! It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” So what can we do to make these years count, whether they are golden or rusty?
We may not be able to travel as often or for as long as we once could, but I’ll cherish the relationships that we have with people both near and far and when I can’t be together with them in person, I’ll remind myself how fortunate we are to have the internet, something that we didn’t have in our younger years. When I can’t explore far away places, I’ll seek out and appreciate ones that are closer to home. I’ll continue to offer the best of myself through volunteer work. I’ll read and learn and stay as physically active as I can for as long as I can. Always, I’ll remember to be thankful!
And finally, a message for those of you who are younger, don’t waste what might be the best years of your life yearning for the golden years. After all, they might turn out to be a little bit rusty!
Following Augustine 
I like that – the Rusty years. I’ve had a great life and still do – Even though I’m 68 I don’t FEEL old. I am slowing down but I’m not in my sloth years yet. It would be hard to pick best years – summers in YK, 10 years in Kenya …
Definitely not in our sloth years yet either! I’ll have to remember that… sloth years!
My first thought about rusty or golden years, was that a lot is about the attitude you go into retirement with. I know there are lots of younger people with more medical issues than I may ever have. I have made a point of never saying how these old years are full of pain. Yes, I have pain and I feel rusty a lot, and need surgery, but my outlook on life is positive, and that really helps. I truly love life and all it brings. Think of the things you now get to do, more reading, more crafting, more seeing friends and family, staying up late if you want, so many positive things in life.
No, it’s not all rosy, but with family and friends, life is rich.
You are so right, Brenda! A positive attitude makes a huge difference as does determination to make the most of life regardless of its struggles. I never want to become a crabby old lady who spends her time complaining about her aches and pains.
Nice comments by Brenda here. Anyway, a good, thoughtful piece. I’ve read it three times now, and could ramble on forever with my own observations, but instead, I will limit it to one area (I hear the huge sighs of relief from across the continent). I definitely agree with your comments about thankfulness and gratitude for being here. Elaine, you know about my lifestyle. At 76, I am still active, indeed, still training hard as a powerlifter. Of late, I have had to deal with tendonitis in my leg as a consequence of decades of hard lifting. I constantly have friends my age caution me and mildly rebuke me for continuing to lift heavily. Sadly, many of them who live more sedentary lifestyles are facing challenges more taxing than my tendonitis, annoying though that be. On the bright side, as a result of my committment to fitness, I have a resting heart rate of 51, blood pressure of 112/78, and O2 saturation of 99%. All of this leads me, however indirectly, to the point I want to make, which is that to some extent, our “golden years” are what we make of them. Of course, bad things happen to good people which cannot be controlled, but I would argue that our “golden years” are, at least in part, golden of our own making.
You make an excellent point, Richard! Regardless of where we’re at in life and what our obstacles might be, we can choose how we respond to them and how we use the time we’re given. You are living proof that staying physically active adds quality to our so-called “golden years” and I would also add that you and Colleen add gold to your lives by the ways that you interact with and contribute to the lives of the people around you.
Thanks Elaine. You folks and Colleen and I share a lot of attitudes about this and many other things. I still remember when the four of us, all in our 60s, were passing all of the young Chinese while climbing The Great Wall!
Thank you for your musings about the ‘Golden Years’. I enjoy reading your posts.
Thank you for your comment! I always love to hear that something I’ve written resonates with a reader.
Enjoyed reading the rusty golden years and I love the verse in Corinthians.Now in my 82 year I thank God for each new morning and for his grace to me over my whole life.
Yes, each day is a gift!
What a thought-provoking post! I’m 65, still working, and probably won’t retire for another year or two. I can visualize retirement, but not quite there yet. One thing I’ve noticed with some folks in my age group is they have no interest in learning new technology. I might not always get it, but I want to keep learning. I think it helps keep me feeling young, plus I don’t want to miss out on anything exciting.
I agree, Beth! I’m a firm believer in the value of lifelong learning. Technology can be frustrating, but it has really expanded our opportunities.