– Betty Friedan

A nother election year! Who will win the 2016 presidential election? We are being swamped with relentless speeches, debates, campaigns, newspaper articles and media events. Who do we vote for in an uncertain world? This is a question that confronts all of us. How can American influence be used to protect the homeland and prevent future wars?

We have to decide who we are going to vote for. How do we choose who will become the nation’s next president? I do not know. Although I listen, read and ask questions, I am befuddled.

How will the candidates handle the most pressing domestic and foreign issues affecting our country? It seems there is a new problem every day. Is it any wonder that fear and anxiety have become the hallmark of our age? Danger threatens and everything seems to be collapsing around us. We have yearnings for inner peace and for meeting life’s dangers and uncertainties with confidence. We need for fear to vanish. (I am wishing for a miracle.) We need to stimulate the economy and get good paying jobs.

As I write, news reports tell about corporate greed, fraud, famine, terrorism, racial and ethnic conflict, economic disruption, violence and uncertainty, health care and more. For many, life is a constant struggle just to survive. Is it not wrong to want a decent life for our families? We are overwhelmed by crushing problems beyond our control. Corruption has affected our world. We want to put our feet on a new path; a journey of hope. We want thriving communities and a strong competitive nation.

Can the world offer peace and stillness even in the midst of mayhem? In a world filled with ghastly suffering and sorrow, can we find a deep joy? No matter where we live we experience some kind of tragedy and loss in our lives. We carry these with deep faith, dignity and respect. Our own America needs restructuring.

British psychologist Robert Holden, in a presentation to the annual mental health conference in Wales on “Healing, Listening and Wisdom,” says we need to listen to our inner-tuition, to follow the heart more often, and to stand by what is most important.

We all have a growing interest in these exciting times because science is making longer lives possible. We are not becoming younger as we get older. We can’t, no matter how hard we try. We have benefited immensely from the experience and wisdom our years have brought us. Let’s embrace our age and make the most of it.

Advances in research and technology affect our ability to live well as we age. Now we have to figure out what to do with it. We have to get rid of the outdated beliefs and stereotypes about aging. We are defined by our age, sex or income. We want to be defined by who we are, not how old we are. We refuse to allow the old expectations of what we should do at a certain age. The negative stereotypes of aging are ingrained in our society and personal identities.

We make fun of people’s age and call them old. I am way up in the aging community and experiencing all things these new and old ways about aging. Isn’t it all done in the spirit of love, fun and adoration?

— Zaffie Hadiaris of Saco is the host of “Zaffie,” a weekly television talk show on Channel 3 Biddeford public access. It can also be seen at biddefordmaine.org. Contact Hadiaris at zhadiaris@hotmail.com.