The first thing about getting older, is that you gain an extremely detailed understanding of the human condition. Of course, that also means you become less tolerant of stupidity… Of which there seems no shortage these days. You tend not to care what the repercussions are for speaking the truth.
You can tell when you’re old by the reactions to you’re falling down in front of group of people. If they panic and run toward you, you’ve accomplished old age. If they laugh, you’re nowhere near old yet. If they simply ignore you, you haven’t quite made it, but that light at the end of the tunnel isn’t Bugs Bunny with a flashlight. (And yes, you’re probably old if you understand that reference.)
You begin to recognize the age thing, when you notice yourself stumbling into the bathroom in the morning and recognizing that the grey bearded gink in the mirror really is you.
I used to be on the radio years ago. More years than I care to tell you about. You know you’re getting older when you hear songs you played on the radio on store PA systems.
One of the better things about growing older is your understanding of history. You were there for most of it.
Of course the biggest advantage is getting older is that you’re not dead yet.
You tend to more readily recognize that the time that you’re in, regardless of what that time is, is important to both you and those around you oh, and you tend to spend more time managing it in ways that you never did before.