The “old US President syndrome”

Around Christmas, we went to a party organized by a nice neighbor, now well into his eighties, and who insisted on hosting a gathering where about 60 people attended. I let you imagine the level of stress that must have possessed that very generous neighbor, who catered all the food and organized the whole event the very best he could. 

That made me think, when is it time to unload stress onto others or avoid it altogether? What is the “right age” to do so? Sure, I realize that there’s no single "right" age to subcontract the task. Also, age is a taboo subject in America and no one dare to place limits whatever they might be around it. It's a highly personal decision that depends on individual circumstances, health, and personal preferences. 

Perhaps a better way to assess the situation is to ask what is one’s energy level? Are we feeling increasingly fatigued or experiencing burnout? Or finding it harder to concentrate, make decisions, or remember details? Is work causing us significant stress and impacting our overall well-being? Sure there are other considerations (I assume we’re only talking about retirees for this exercise): 

Can we financially afford to delegate tasks or hire help? Are we such persons thriving on busy endeavors to the point of loving to fight chaos? Again, talking about age is a “hot potato”, especially when we’re faced with Biden and Trump who are both denying that they’re too old to run a country.

I would leave the closing word to Hergé, the creator of “Tintin” the famous Belgian comic strip for targeting “the youth between 7 and 77 years of age”. Beyond that, I’m convinced, we need to seriously think twice before we leap into unsafe or inappropriate behaviors for an age over double-seven, assess where we stand, be gracious about it and make the necessary adjustments!!