My grandma would always tell me after watching me perform, “Take advantage of what you’re good at. You won’t be able to experience them when you’re my age.” This advice had always got to me, so I told her one day that I’m not going to live up to the elderly stereotype and just sit around at home with billions of cats, but that I’m going to be a super hip grandma that takes zumba classes in her free time. Sorry grandma, but you won’t find me 50 years from now on the couch with ten cats sprawled across my lap. Age is definitely not getting in the way of my happiness and the things I love doing most and should not for anyone else either. But unfortunately, the common belief that happiness declines after the glorious days of young adulthood has brainwashed one too many elderly. 
A research conducted by Dr. Meg Jay found that 80 percent of life's defining moments occur by the age of 35, which led to the assumption that many do not have anything to look forward to after the first half of their lives. 
But really, is it age that’s actually defining happiness and restraining the elderly from making goals for themselves? Or is it the implied concept of age-appropriate behavior in society that is preventing them from doing so?

The truth is, our society today is so obsessed and focused on the celebrations of the new generation that the elderly do not receive the attention they deserve.  Our consciousness and attention tend to naturally turn to the young in hopes for their accomplishments to bring about social change for the future.  The lack of concern towards the elderly is causing many of them to become more and more hopeless every day.

What these elderly need are goals, goals that will allow them to look forward to something that will keep them optimistic and happy. However, the problem in this is that many elderly lack goals not because they are not physically capable of accomplishing them, but because they are not encouraged enough from society to go out and do what they love and enjoy, as they are often portrayed as useless and frail.  Many believe that the elderly are not crucial to society and that they are rather burdensome because of their lack of contribution to the declining economic development. 

Aging can be a difficult and depressing process. Even without all the gray hair and wrinkles, the elderly are constantly worrying about their health, diseases, instability, finance, and relationships, the last thing they need is dejection from society that is not encouraging them to be happy and do what they enjoy. 

And it’s one thing if an elderly lives at home with his or her spouse and a loving family, but it’s a completely different story when considering elderly in assisted living places as they are constantly faced with these problems and fears more severely.

Entering a nursing home or an assisted living place can lead to a whole new stage in one’s life. One may feel hopeless, dependent, and even childish as they have gotten to the point in their lives in which they must be taken care of by someone else. A study conducted by Lea Watson, of 2,000 residents from 193 nursing homes across four states, has shown that 13 percent of the residents were severely depressed.  Watson found that the major symptom of depression among these residents was abandoning or losing interest in hobbies or other pleasurable pastimes, as they begin to lose motives and believe that they incapable of doing things because they are too old and incompetent. 

As a society, we must encourage and support and motivate the elderly to get back on their feet and accomplish a goal or just simply doing what they would love doing. The little things, even spending time with them, will boost their confidence and happiness. We need to reassure them that they still serve a purpose in society and that their role in it is very much needed. After all, life is too short to be anything but happy.