Seriously? 

Some people claim I’m in denial, that my chronological age has had such a devastating impact on my self-esteem that my only recourse is to pretend that I’m somewhere else in life.

This could not be farther from the truth.

My real problem is with stereotypes about aging, and how they never apply to me.

Ever notice that whenever there’s a product targeting “mature adults” the photo caption resembles the one above?

Who the hell are these people? Certainly not “me.”

I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I never grew up. I was fortunate enough not to have to: No kids, always self-employed, fitness-obsessed, financially free.

I did what I wanted to do [more or less] and nothing has changed.

I have friends of all ages, both men and women; gay, straight and somewhere in between, religious and not…some brighter than others.

It doesn’t matter to me. The murkier the merrier as long as they’re good people who haven’t given up on themselves.

With this in mind, there are many “well-known and respected” blogs written in large part by physicians who target the Baby Boom generation.

The vast majority focus their attention on those at the very edge of that era, or people born somewhere in the vicinity of 1946.

The rest are ignored because they don’t fit the narrative.

In other words, if you’re not in your middle to late 60’s, you’re too young.

Nonetheless, these “medically-based” blogs are everywhere.

You can learn all about how to keep your aching joints healthy, check out the latest in pocket catheters, or discover the wonders of bingo.

Even my 83-year-old mother laughs at them, quite frankly.

This is why Baby Boomers like me feel so alienated by advertising that targets my age demographic.

For example, here’s a “typical” couple used in an ad for mature dating:

I know. Weird, right?

This is more like it:

So why don’t ads like this exist?

Because there aren’t enough people like this to justify the advertising cost, so they pander to the averages.

How about nutrition ads for dads that look like this?

…Instead of this:

I don’t personally know any couple that looks like this.

The woman could be his mother, for god’s sake.

But I have to assume that this is what advertisers think average couples look like.

Call me a juvenile delinquent, or clueless, or whatever. But it’s just not relevant to me or my demographic.

Here’s one more.

This is a typical group of older mature people lifting weights looks like:

Seriously?

This is what it looks like for me:

I’m not telling you that everyone I know is a consummate athlete.

But what I am saying is that many older men don’t come even close to fitting the stereotypes perpetrated by advertising agencies.

If I actually bought into the advertisers version of reality, I’d put a bullet in my head.

This isn’t a rant about denial. I know where I am in the scheme of things.

But I also know that I will never throw myself under the bus unless life takes a bigger chunk of flesh than I can afford to lose.

It better be huge ’cause I’m not going down without first going to the wall.

Remember, life’s not over ’til it’s over and not one second sooner.

10 RULES FOR SURVIVING THE BABY BOOM

1] DO WHAT YOU LOVE, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT PART-TIME.

2] WORKOUT ON A DAILY BASIS. IT’S THE VERY LEAST YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF.

3] CHALLENGE YOURSELF EVERY DAY.

4] GET A GRIP ON TECHNOLOGY. IT’S A NEW WORLD ORDER YOU DON’T WANT TO BE LEFT OUT OF.

5] CONNECT WITH PEOPLE, ALL PEOPLE. CONTRIBUTE, LISTEN, LEARN.

6] EAT CLEAN, LIVE CLEAN, THINK DIRTY THOUGHTS.

7] RUTS ARE LIKE SPEED-BUMPS. THEY COME AND GO. MAKE SURE THEY DON’T TAKE PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN YOUR LIFE.

8] NEVER, EVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO, BE AND NOT BE.

9] BELIEVE IN YOURSELF OR NO ONE ELSE WILL, PARTICULARLY AT THIS STAGE OF THE GAME.

10] YOU’RE ONLY AS IRRELEVANT AS YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE. STAY IN THE GAME OF LIFE AND YOU’LL GET ALL THE APPLAUSE YOU CAN HANDLE.

I only know this stuff because I see what happens to older men who buy into someone else’s version of the truth.

Godspeed.