I wonder if it’s possible to be prejudiced against yourself? I ask because the other day I noticed that the cards I got for my latest birthday are lying on a shelf, face down. I think the reason for this is ‘60’ is in big digits on the front.

The only birthday card still standing depicts a chimpanzee wearing a pink tutu. Hardly the stuff of great art but it doesn’t have a number on it and so it continues to be displayed.

Like most people, I’ve never been crazy about the zeros in my birthdays. The big ‘30’ is, for many, the biggest hurdle they’ve got to jump. There is a sense that you have crossed from one country into another. I’ve listened to people who have just hit 30 lamenting that their life is over with nothing done. From where I am now, that attitude seems ridiculous, but I suspect I felt the same way at the time.

Then the 40s and 50s come along and, with luck, they bring a growing sense of assurance. I don’t mean that during those two decades I went around feeling smug – plenty of upheavals came to help me keep a decent sense of insecurity. Still the 50s especially, brought a new sense of belonging in the world.

I hadn’t thought, therefore, that I would react to being 60 by hiding from my view the offending number on the birthday cards. Sixty, like 30, brings the sense that you have crossed a border into another country. I don’t really know what this country is and it looks and feels a lot like the country I’ve just left. In reality, little has changed. There isn’t, after all, that great a difference between being 58 and being 62. I’m as fit today as I was at 50. And, no, getting fit wasn’t a ‘denying the ageing process’ thing – it was a ‘not liking what I was seeing in the mirror’ thing.

What puzzles me most about all this is that I have no fears at all about the 70s or 80s or (come on God, I’ll be good, I promise) the 90s. I don’t feel that you cross a new border with those particular zeros – I’ll still be in the country I’ve just entered but I’ll know the language and where to find a good pint.

I enjoy the fact that the other inhabitants of this country are part of a generation that marched against the Vietnam War and generally took part in and enjoyed the politics of protest and change. We will be more awkward customers, I think, than our predecessors – look at the medical card protests for instance – and if you’re on the other side of that border, expect to hear reports of street battles from time to time.

The big disappointment so far is that somebody once told me that you were supposed to get wiser as you got older. If so, my wisdom is still in the post. Who do I complain to?

Wisdom or no, the first thing I need to do is to drop that prejudice against myself. I need to climb out of a stale mindset, with all its clichés and assumptions, about being over 60. I need to find a new mindset that will serve me well as I make my way with other people through this new landscape, having as much fun as we can on the way.

And if you know of any good demos, be sure to let us know.

What do you think?
Have you had trouble adapting to a new age?
What are the benefits of getting older?