February 12, 2014 Article

The Old Coot is younger than he thinks.

By Merlin Lessler

The older you are, the harder it is to get a good picture of yourself. I was panning through a stack of 100 photos the other day and could only find one that looked like me: “That’s no good; it makes my hairline appear to recede.” – “Nope, not that one; it makes my ears look big.” – “No way! Look how distorted the lens is; it makes me look like I’ve put on 20 pounds.” (My bathroom scale is off too. So is the one at the gym.) Nothing works right these days. Especially digital cameras. Sunspots mess with the pixels and distort the image. That’s what I think.

Friends are no help. They look through the same stack and say, “Wow; these are great pictures of you.” When you find the only one you like and show it to them, they look at each other and roll their eyes. Your wife is more to the point, “No wonder you like it; it doesn’t look anything like you.”  (They obviously don’t know what they are talking about!)

Even my old pictures aren’t very satisfying to paw through. I look at that guy, the one in his 40’s or 50’s and wonder why he didn’t appreciate how young he was when the photo was snapped. He was too focused on an even younger self. He had no idea that an older version awaited in his future. A jealous, older self, who scolds him for thinking he was old in his 40’s, calling him a jerk!

There is a lesson here. For me and for every one who hasn’t figured out how to appreciate the age they are, to not be envious of the age they were. It takes discipline. It takes developing the ability to go ahead in age, 5 years, 10 years or more, and look back on who you are right now. Do it and you’ll put a spring in your step. You’ll appreciate how young you are. Your older self will be pleased. And, it’s easy to do. If you can’t do it in your head, you can get a free App for your computer or smart phone that will age your picture 10 or 20 years. I tried it, and now have an older me staring back from my computer screen. A quick look at this old coot and I feel young. There is a spring in my step. I appreciate my “youth.” When I become that guy and look back, I’ll be proud of the “kid” I was. The one that appreciated his “youth.” That appreciated the “now,” and all because of a free App. Ain’t modern technology wonderful?