We live longer than ever. In fact, as Jane Fonda revealed in a talk she gave to TEDxWomen 13 years ago, this is one of the great changes of our time. We live, on average, 34 years longer than our great-grandparents. If you think about it, that’s almost an entire adult life added to our existence. A gift that, however, our culture still does not know how to fully take advantage of, because we continue to think that life is an arc. You are born, you grow, you reach your maximum potential in adulthood, and from there, aging and free fall.
But what if it weren’t like that? What if age was not a disease, but a life stage full of meaning? Jane Fonda, actress, activist and reference to her 87 years, raises it with luminous clarity in this famous talk we are talking about. “Aging is like climbing a ladder.«explains the actress. This change of perspective can change everything.
The longevity revolution
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In her talk, Fonda reminds us that from the age of 60 onwards we are living what she calls “the third act.” Those final decades of life that should not be a simple epilogue, but a new chapter. A different, but deeply satisfying, stage of development.
“It turns out that the Most people over 50 feel betterless stressed, less hostile and less anxious«explains the actress, referring to certain studies, such as the happiness curve, which effectively reveal that these are the happiest years of our lives. «It’s not what I expected, to be honest,» confesses Fonda.
And, as the actress says, at the beginning of her 40s, she woke up every morning with negative thoughts, something that scared her. But his arrival at the “third act”, which he was already in when he gave this lecture, changed everything. “I am in the middle of the third act, and I realize that I have never been happier.”. I feel such deep well-being… I have discovered that when one lives old age instead of looking at it from the outside, fear dissipates. You realize that you are still yourself, maybe even more so.”
Climb the stairs
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Although there are many experts who try to explain why this increase in happiness in the last years of life is due, the truth is that Fonda’s theory resonates with the life experience of how much she has lived. “The entire world operates according to a universal law«, explains the actress, «entropythe second law of thermodynamics. “Entropy means that everyone, everything, ends up entering a state of decay and deterioration.”
However, Fonda reveals with theatricality, there is a single exception to this universal law: the human spirit.
“The human spirit can continue to evolve upwardslike a staircase, taking us to plenitude, authenticity and wisdom,” she shares excitedly in her talk.
This moving ascension, Fonda explains in her speech, is perfectly represented in Neil Selinger. At 57 years old, this retired lawyer joined Sarah Lawrence’s writing group and began writing. Two years later, he was diagnosed with ALS.
Jane Fonda soon found an article written by Selinger. In it he said: «As my muscles weaken, my writing strengthens. As I lose speech, I regain my voice. As I shrink, I grow. After losing so much, I finally started to find myself.”
The third act
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The human spirit never stops developing, regardless of the path taken by the body that contains it. So Jane Fonda’s bet is make the most of this last act, because it is where we have a more developed spirit. With greater wisdom and self-knowledge.
How can we do it? Changing our relationship with the past. For Fonda, it was key to review her past, revisit it and learn to forgive. Forgive others, and forgive yourself. “You may discover, like me, that many things that you previously believed were your fault, many things that you previously thought about yourself, actually had nothing to do with you,” explains the actress in her lecture. “You are fine, and you are able to turn back, forgive them and forgive yourself. You are capable of freeing yourself from your past.”
This healing process is the first step, which allows us achieve true wisdom. Because as the actress says, «it is not the experiences that make us wise. It is reflecting on them that makes us wise and helps us feel complete.»
This change can also be revolutionary. Because as the actress concludes, “women start out being completewe are subjects of our own lives. But very often, once we reach puberty, we start worrying about fitting in and being popular. And we become objects in the lives of others. But now, In our third act, maybe we can go back to where we started and meet him for the first time. And if we achieve it, it will not be just for us.”
Fonda’s message is undoubtedly powerful. Because «Older women are the largest demographic group in the world«, he assures, «so, if we manage to redefine ourselves and feel fulfilled, we will generate a global cultural change. And it will serve as an example to the younger generations so that they can rethink their own life expectancy.”
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