In our American culture there’s an assumption, possibly proliferated by younger people, that with old age one’s mind begins to deteriorate and senility soon ensues.

Certainly, as you grow older the reflexes start to slow, the joints begin to swell, the bones become more brittle, the muscle density decreases, and the brain shrinks.

But, there is an alternative explanation for the brain change that occurs as we grow older.

I submit to you that the frame of mind that comes with old age is caused less by brain shrinkage and more as a result of a sharpened perception! Some may even call it wisdom!

Maybe brain shrinkage has some affect as it starts to filter out much of life’s distractions. Then, as a result you begin to gain a a better insight into the state of affairs of this world and a better sense of your own mortality relative to how things are going to end up.

And, you no longer want to dabble in inconsequential concerns and pointless complications. And, you may even find it all, or much of it….annoying!

Through the experience of years of living (and maybe some brain shrinkage!) us older folks have acquired the ability to focus on the true and important concerns of life and no longer want to waste time, energy or words on perfunctory matters.

So, I would argue that as people get older they develop clarity.

This new clarity of old age enables you to dispel the baloney and more effectively and efficiently set priorities and even sharpen decision-making.

With clarity you can easily shrug off fascinations with new moralities, redefined ethics, political correctness, social media crazes, and any other of the latest and greatest distractions that the information age and the Internet and TV is sending your way.

Because, like wise King Solomon said in the Bible and, hopefully, most of us have learned (or will learn) later in life from our own experience, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

The experience of years of living provides you with the superpower to filter out much of the nonsense of life. Consequently, I just don’t care to add any more drama to what’s left of my life or wallow in the drama of other people’s lives.

I’ve got a limited time on this earth. In fact, I can almost see the end and I need to make the most of the time I have left.

So, you may think me uninterested, boring, even experiencing cognitive decline. But, as a matter of fact, I’m just growing into a No-Nonsense kind of guy!