Think and Grow Rich!

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Symptoms of the Fear of Old Age

The Fear of Old Age
In the main, this fear grows out of two sources First, the thought that old age may bring with it POVERTY. Secondly, and by far the most common source of origin, thoughts arising from false and cruel teachings of the past, which have been too well mixed with fire and brimstone and other
“bogeymen” cunningly designed to enslave people through fear.
In the basic Fear of Old Age, people have two very sound reasons for their apprehension—one growing out of their distrust of others, who may seize whatever worldly goods they may possess, and the other arising from the terrible pictures of the world beyond which were planted in their minds through social heredity before they came into full possession of their powers of reason.
The possibility of ill health, which is more common as people grow older, is also a contributing cause of this common Fear of Old Age.
Eroticism also enters into the cause of the Fear of Old Age, as no one cherishes the thought of diminishing sexual attraction and activity.
The most common cause of Fear of Old Age is associated with the possibility of poverty. “Poorhouse”—and everything the term conveys—is

not a pretty word.
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It throws a chill into the mind of every person who faces the possibility of having to spend his or her declining years impoverished and worried constantly about meeting both the necessities of daily life and the special needs of old age.
Another contributing cause of the Fear of Old Age is the possibility of loss of freedom and independence, as old age may bring with it the loss of both physical and economic freedom.
Symptoms of the Fear of Old Age
The commonest symptoms of this fear are:
THE TENDENCY TO SLOWDOWN and develop an inferiority complex at the age of mental maturity, around the age of falsely believing oneself to be slipping because of age.
(The truth is that one’s most useful years, mentally and spiritually, are those between 50 and THE HABIT OF SPEAKING APOLOGETICALLY of oneself as being old merely because one has reached the age of 60 or, instead of reversing the rule and expressing gratitude for having reached the age of wisdom and understanding.
THE HABIT OF KILLING OFF INITIATIVE, imagination, and self-reliance by falsely believing oneself too old to exercise these qualities. The habit of the manor woman of 50 or dressing with the aim of trying to appear much younger and affecting mannerisms of youth, thereby inspiring ridicule by both friends and strangers.

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