Happy 249th birthday, America!
Age-defying Athletes have thrown off their oppressors, too
Colonial revolutionaries fought in the eighteenth century to establish a free America. Similarly, members of the ADAP (Age-defying Athlete Project) community battle for autonomy over their lives. They battle self-doubt, injury, fatigue, competitive hang-ups, performance ups and downs, and societal tsk-tskers in order to continue to play games.
“Play games” may seem frivolous, and far less important than freedom from King George. But “playing games” is actually the final expression of all those freedoms leading up to it.
In his book, The Longevity Economy, author Joseph Coughlin (Founder and Director of MIT’s Age Lab) observes some (admittedly rough) parallels between the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Coughlin writes:
“One appealing way to think of Maslow’s hierarchy is to break it down into those three fundamental rights enshrined in the United States Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
“The needs found at the bottom of the hierarchy (such as food, shelter, healthcare, and safety) which dominate much of contemporary innovation for older adults, can be said to correspond to ‘life’. Many of us discover that our rights in old age, for all practical purposes, begin and end here…”
The Longevity Economy is devoted to the premise that longer life will increase demand for products and services appropriate to a population of geezers that still craves challenge, excitement, stimulation – in short, things that outperform the boring set of health, security and residential offerings that currently constitute “senior choices”.
Clearly, Age-defying Athletes are already demanding experiences that are challenging, exciting, and stimulating. They are more than just physiological and safety needs creatures, clinging desperately to the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid.
By satisfying physiological and safety needs in numerous creative ways, ADAPers ascend through sports to the higher-order fulfillments of friendship, fitness, and fun - aka, in Maslow terms, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization…and in Declaration terms, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A new revolution
What’s more, continuing with this Independence Day theme, Age-defying Athletes are fomenting a new Revolution – to play sports during a phase of life previously relegated to recliners, naps, and being overlooked/overcoddled/overprotected/overmedicated.
ADAPers are paving the way for generations of forthcoming geezers to continue to swing, hit, scramble, side-step, kick, stroke, rotate, and perform a gazillion other moves under the spacious skies.
Welcoming long life
This country, the USA, welcomes every birthday – with parades, fireworks, and oratory.
Such tradition departs radically from the approach many individuals over age 50 take to their birthday festivities. As they age, men and women sometimes shy away from parties. “It’s just another day.”
The older they get, in fact, the more they begin to lament, “I’m not sure about next year…”
If an aging country can celebrate another year of existence, people can, too. That 85-year-old has done something right for the past 85 years – and that success should be toasted. 95? Bravo! You deserve a huge party and fireworks!
WIIFY?
This Fourth of July season, celebrate age, celebrate independence, and most of all, keep climbing Maslow’s hierarchy!