Sunday 28 / December / 2025
I was watching a retired senior executive as he was walking through a maze of people in a crowded area and I had only one thought in my mind about him.
He was probably trying to wind down the clock to get through the day. Just a year ago, before his retirement, time was swishing past faster as he was embroiled deep in his executive tasks.
So, I decided to stop him. I waved a hand at him but he ignored me. I knew that because he diverted his attention sideway to get out of the visual path I was with him. But I did not give up on him.
I stepped up the pace of my walk, did a semi-circle until I was walking opposite direction with him. He had two choices. To push me out of his way or stop and talk to me.
There was a frown in his face when I stretched my hand to greet him. It took several seconds for him to raise his hand to meet mine. The handshake said it all. He pulled out his hand quickly and tried to sidestep me to walk away.
I was going to block him but decided to shift on one side to let him go. He was obviously not happy to talk to anyone. I continued with my walk and settled in a coffee shop on a table so that I could see everyone who walked past.
Minutes later, the same man came walking towards me but quickly made a U-turn to walk back where he came from. I thought about it for the next few seconds and I came to only one conclusion about his behavior.
Probably he was having difficulties to come to terms with getting old. Perhaps he was also looking to erase his professional past and all the contacts he had while he was in the top position.
A few minutes later, a man came from behind and patted me on the back. Another retired person but he was not in the leadership role while he was working.
He asked me if he could sit and have coffee with me.
I did not only say ‘yes please’ but offered to buy him coffee. He lowered himself gratefully on the chair while I got up to get him the drink. Minutes later, we were catching up with the gossips of the country and the way things are heading.
While we were at it, another man stopped by to greet us. He was about ten years older than us but the smile in his face told us he was leading a very good retired life, unlike the executive who was trying to avoid people.
We asked him what was the ‘secret’ behind his good mood? There was no hesitation in his answer.
“Do not grow old but older,” that was his answer and quickly continued with his walk.
It took us several seconds to understand what he meant. For the next couple of minutes, we debated about the wisdom in his words. It made a lot of sense to us. You cannot fight with the time without hurting yourself.
Growing old is not against anyone and if you accept it then you are still young but just a year older no matter how many years have gone past.
