You Don’t Stop Doing Things Because You Get Old — You Get Old Because You Stop Doing Things
There’s a meme floating around Facebook that says, “You don’t stop doing things because you get old. You get old because you stop doing things.”
It hit me harder than I expected.
Then I scrolled down and saw another one — a “kids from the 80s” meme showing a bunch of us lying on the pavement while another kid launched a BMX over our heads (while an adult looked on sitting on his front steps). The caption was basically, “We survived this… and today’s kids can’t go outside without sunscreen and a permission form”
As a 57-year-old who absolutely participated in this kind of questionable decision-making, I laughed… but then it got me thinking:
Are kids aging faster today because they’ve stopped doing the things that kept us young?
Growing Up Without Screens: Boredom Was Our Coach
When I was a kid in Hamilton, screens didn’t compete with the outdoors. They weren’t even on the roster.
If you wanted to be entertained, your choices looked like this:
go outside
stay outside
go back outside because there was "nothing to do" inside
We built our own skateboard half-pipe out of whatever plywood we could “find.” No permits. No helmets. My best friend's brother Gord supplied us with his custom made boards. (How did he do that without Amazon to order the trucks from? And why aren't kids named Gord anymore?)
We ran hockey tournaments inside the high school tennis courts. No adults. No schedule. Someone yelled “game on,” and that was the official start time.
Bill, Dwight and I hiked the Bruce Trail until our legs stopped working… we made it all the way to Ancaster.... only then realizing now we had to hike all the way back! That was our first introduction to planning, or more accurately, the consequences of not planning.
I remember Randy, Dwight and I taking shelter from what felt like the thunderstorm of the century as we biked home from exploring Albion Falls.
We weren’t superheroes.
We weren’t tougher than kids are today.
We were bored.
And boredom is a very underrated teacher.
Kids Today Aren’t Fragile — They’re Underexposed
This is where I think most adults miss the mark.
Kids today aren’t lazy.
They’re not weak.
They’re not glued to screens because they lack willpower.
They’re glued to screens because that’s the world they were handed.
Many don’t have parents who grew up outdoors or know how to introduce them to it.
Some live in cities where “nature” is the neighbourhood "greenspace".
And families are tired — it’s hard to organize adventures when life itself already feels like an endurance race.
If nobody shows them the outdoors…
How would they know it exists?
This isn’t softness.
It’s lack of exposure.
Mr. Rudolph got me my first "away-from-home" job as a canoe assistant for Hap Wilson in Temagami.
Hap was required by law to give me days off. But I was "bored" so he asked me to canoe in to
an abandoned fire tire and determine if it was "safe" for him to send clients to. I guess if I
didn't return, he'd know it wasn't safe!
How Kids “Get Old” Early
Age isn’t the number on your driver’s license.
Age is what happens when curiosity gets replaced by caution.
Kids get old early when:
they stop exploring
they stop testing themselves
they don’t trust their bodies
discomfort feels dangerous instead of normal
they lose the belief that they can do hard things
That’s aging.
And that can happen surprisingly young.
Sometimes at 12.
The Outdoors Makes Kids Younger
Here’s the good news:
The outdoors doesn’t care how old you are — it just asks you to show up.
When a student climbs a hill they didn’t think they could climb, they get younger.
When they paddle across a lake and feel the wind push back, they get younger.
When they try to build a fire, fail, try again, get smoke in their eyes, fail again… and then finally get that spark to catch?
That moment rewires something important.
That’s not just an outdoor skill.
That’s a life skill.
And those moments stick with them for decades.
In 1992 I spent 3 months volunteering in Guyana, South America.
I slept in a hammock the entire time, and that river behind us supplied our drinking water.
Not Every Kid Has Access — But They Deserve It
Some kids have parents who introduce them to the outdoors.
Many don’t.
And if we want the next generation to stay young — not just in years, but in spirit — they need exposure to nature, challenge, teamwork, and experiences that remind them:
“I can do difficult things.”
That’s why we run Outdoor Ed programs here at The Off Grid Ark.
Not to create future mountain guides or survivalists.
Just to give kids a world bigger than their screens.
A place where they can push a little, struggle a little, laugh a lot, and leave feeling more capable than when they arrived.
**Because you don’t get old when you turn a certain age.
You get old when life stops challenging you.**
And the outdoors, thankfully, has no shortage of challenges to offer.
