ABSTRACT
In this introductory chapter, the author suggests that old age as a stage of life may seem like an unappealing foreign territory, a place you wouldn’t choose to visit. Many factors influence our ability to accept—let alone embrace—the fact that we are growing older. As we become eligible for membership in a club we didn’t volunteer to join, we buffer ourselves against this reality with a variety of strategies. But when we accept this change in our status and begin to adapt, we can make the best of it—becoming both older and wiser.
