In Western civilization, and I'm not sure how far back this goes, youth and elderly were simply considered to be burdens upon society. They can't work, can't provide for themselves ~ therefore they're just holding everyone down. The youth finally started to get some respect when some went out super-young & bringing home money for the family. Thankfully, some laws were put into place to protect children's health.

However, the same negative outlook on elderly still exists in general society. And people are even more extreme when it comes to what they consider to be old ~ as though they are still holding onto the same views of age that they had back when they were kids. They never realized that their youthful views of "old people" were a little extreme, and then decided to change their point of view.

I think that you have a very healthy and insightful view towards getting older. And it really is too bad that more Western adults don't look at aging in the same way! I'm like you, in some ways. I do appreciate the elderly very much, and I don't see aging as a negative at all. Most of the time, I forget how old I am (because I don't care at all) and have to go back to the year, 1970, and do the math to figure it out. But, it's just a number. It doesn't mean anything to me.

I think that it's really cool that Eastern societies respect the elderly, and look to them to share their wisdom. There's something to be said for that!