The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson

and is narrated by Tina Lehman.

Six reasons to look forward to growing old.

As someone in his early 60s, I feel like I'm sometimes asked to be a spokesman for those

in the older generations who are adamant or even defiant about staying smack in the center

of life.

I make no bones about my live-long drop-dead philosophy.

I even made accessories to this effect. Numerous times I've

shared that in some ways I'm just reaching what I consider my peak. There are days I genuinely think

I've never had more fun, contentment, and satisfaction in my life than I do right now. Unfortunately,

the dominant culture pushes a different message for those of us over 50 and

definitely over 60. I'm talking about the message that these decades inevitably put us on the

sidelines, ushering in an inevitable fade-out of all our faculties and enjoyments. But guess what?

I'm here to tell you some good news. That doesn't have to be your

destiny. In fact, there's a whole lot to look forward to as you grow older. It's yet another bizarre,

perturbing product of modernism that we don't focus on the positive aspects of aging. The historical

and sociological truth is that cultures throughout time have paid

exceptional honor, respect, and social currency to their elders, and for good reason. Our primal

ancestors undoubtedly depended on those with the most life experience to help support and teach

critical survival skills and adaptive reasoning. In fact, a pivotal cultural boon in humanity's evolution some 30,000 to 35,000 years ago,

came in large part, experts suggest, because of increasing longevity.

Longer average lifespans meant more older people around who could pass on information

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