"This is the mind of the old man: ahead there is darkness and nothing else. The child thinks of the future, of the golden future. The old man thinks of the golden past. But this happens on on the horizontal line. On the vertical line the past is golden, the present is golden, the future is golden - it is a life of tremendous celebration.

So rather than being worried about the laws of old age, think on which line your train is moving. There still is time to change trains; it is always time to change trains, because from every moment that bifurcation is available. You can shift, shift from the horizontal to the vertical - only that is important."

Osho

Actually it is not an either/or but hopefully a both/and. We all are riding on the horizontal train and we can choose to ride on the vertical train. If we are riding both, then it is a matter of which one we focus on, is more important to us, gives meaning and definition to our life.

I continue to grow older every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade. While I grow older I strive to also grow up. I seek transcendence. I seek at-one-ment, atonement for my separation.

First we grow apart from others. We become egocentric and are concerned only with the me, the mine, the ego. Then we become ethnocentric and want to be a member of the group and give ourselves to a purpose and a cause a little bigger than just our individual self, we realize that there is safety in the herd. Then we move up to the cosmocentric view when we want to become one with the all, become one with everything. Being the drop of rain we melt into the ocean.

Old people can become bitter and negative. There seeking to aggrandize the ego has not brought them happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment because the ego is never satisfied, it always wants more. Old people also can become disillusioned and bitter with their family, their community, their church, their country because the herd no longer meets their needs or perceives them as having much value and status. Old people who move beyond the ego, beyond the ethnocentric, find a joy and optimism and hope that is based on hope for the world and the mystery of the universe.

I want to grow up not just old, and as Osho says, it is in growing up that there is amazing celebration.