Hollywood, culture, and yes, even the medical industry tells us that getting older sucks and that people over fifty should slow down and act their age. Guess what? We are not listening.

Instead, many of us are living out our dreams. A growing number of older people are showing there is much to enjoy in the second half of life, from traveling the world and starting a business that complements our lifestyle to having (lots of) multi-orgasmic sex. And this lifestyle is not only filled with joy, but it also bodes well for the future.

CNBC featured an article about a 100-year-old, the world’s oldest practicing doctor. Dr. Howard Tucker’s tips for staying healthy, joyful, and mentally sharp include:

1) Not buying into the retirement myth—staying active decreases the risk of cognitive decline.

2) Staying in shape—walking, swimming, jogging, hiking, and skiing.

3) Not smoking—why would anyone want to put anything but fresh air into one’s lungs when life is so short?

4) Not restricting oneself—he occasionally has a martini or a New York strip steak, but not every day.

5) Not letting his knowledge go to waste—mentoring provides reciprocal growth for both parties.

I knew since childhood that life in the Tennessee Appalachians was not for me. A world opened up in my books and beckoned me to explore. Enter reality, I followed my Dad’s dream and became a minister. Even though I specialized in church and worship music, after twenty-seven success-filled years, I was sick of my job, the politics, the pat answers, taboos, trauma, guilt, and shame.

Life changed in 2000. After selling a software start-up to Sony Music during the sexy days of the NASDAQ boom, financial freedom enabled me to escape. It took six years to gather the courage, but I finally walked off the stage.

Eventually, I ended my marriage, packed my bags, and hit the road. First, to Austin, and eleven years and twelve adventurous moves later, in my mid-sixties, I now find myself in a cozy beach cottage, happily married to someone who understands my questions, desires for freedom, yearnings for new experiences, and my love for lots of sex.

Gina has started a business. Her travel advisory company Crewsin’ & More, has grown exponentially over the past three years and complements our wanderlust. And I am writing my tenth book, a career I’ve always wanted. So we are living out our wildest dreams.

Having traveled the Caribbean and the Mediterranean for the past decade, we are now exploring Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, England, and more.). And we are doing it at a time in our lives when—if we were to listen to Hollywood, culture, and the medical industry—we would be starting to slow down.

The author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, Ashton Applewhite, says that as we get older, both by choice and because the predominant culture turns its gaze from us as if we were invisible, we become free of other people’s expectations. And that is liberating.

As I write in The Quest, we live longer and healthier, meaning we have more time and energy to enjoy life and pursue our wildest dreams. Yet the primary obstacle in our way is society’s dominant narrative about aging and that it is a terrible thing to be feared and avoided.

We experienced it for the first time a few weeks ago at a restaurant in trendy (and very young) St. Pete. The hostess purposely ignored Gina’s question about the restaurant. I felt my face redden in anger, but then equanimity prevailed. Unfortunately, the ridiculous prejudice that this kid of about twenty displayed is an implicit and subconscious act that is socially accepted and usually unchallenged.

As older people, we must not be intimidated. We must stand up against ageism as we go about our daily lives. I admit that as I watched this average-looking kid doing a minimum-wage job and doing it poorly by exhibiting prejudice, I could not help but smugly think that because of my age and success, I was about to enjoy a leisurely and expensive meal with friends. At the same time, she was working her ass off at a sub-par job yet thinking she was superior because she was young.

Ageism, a term unfamiliar to many of us, is systemic discrimination against a particular age group—especially our elders. It was coined by gerontologist (another word that may be unfamiliar) and psychiatrist Robert N. Butler in 1968. Much like racism, it is still rampant in society many decades later. However, we can all push back against it by how we go about our daily lives.

There may be times when we are content to be invisible. However, there will also be times when we should gracefully yet forcefully challenge ageism. These prejudices are deeply ingrained negative stereotypes and assumptions that, if we are honest, we may exhibit to those older than us.

Lauren Cerino, an aging specialist at MIT, says one of the best and most accessible things we can do is to seek out models of aging—those who are embracing aging, who are finding ways to stay engaged, who are models of whom we want to be in later life. And to aspire to be that model for younger generations as we age.

And last, a few words about pleasure, financial freedom, and why they are so important as we age. Pleasure expert Sue Jay Johnson says that when we live as though we are in the best (not final) decades of our lives—less responsibility for kids, more income, and more self-awareness—we experience more pleasure. She notes that this pleasure can be in various areas, but frequently, it is sexual.

As we age, sex can be phenomenal. In fact, the majority of people over fifty regularly enjoy sexual activity. A University of Michigan study found that 62 percent of women ages 50 to 80 reported being satisfied with their sexual activity in the past year.

Thankfully, shows such as Grace and Frankie and movies like Good Luck to You, Leo Grande proves that even Hollywood may be catching up to the fact that in America, ten thousand more people turn sixty-five years old every day.

As to financial freedom, Forbes recently highlighted that a growing number of older people are writing a new economic story for their lives, one in which they are in the power seat rather than desperately waiting by the mailbox for the social security check to arrive.

Technology has made starting a business that caters to your passion more possible. Entrepreneurs have a sense of being in control and responsible for their financial well-being. They have the life and work experience to be their own boss, get clients, be financially wise, and work all the facets to get it going. They are not settling for a rigid fixed-income second half of life.

Gina and I have found that much of what we’re learning is not only about the new places we explore but about ourselves. A growing number of us are finding much to enjoy in the second half of life, from traveling the world, being an entrepreneur, and creating the job of our dreams to finding the most incredible sexual pleasure of our lives.

To quote Applewhite again, “The minute you reconsider any of this, the minute you stop talking about ‘a senior moment,’ you change and behave differently in the world. And that ripples outward and changes the culture.”

Tabanitha McDaniel, in her sixties and living as a digital nomad, says it took her a long time to realize her dreams. It took courage she did not have in the first half of her life. She says it’s not bravery. It’s fuck-it-ness. I love that term and am old enough to use it without guilt. Fuck it all; let’s not roll over and play dead or invisible. As we age, let’s enjoy all the aspects of our life—our body, mind, soul, and spirit. Getting older does NOT suck.

Please note: This post was inspired and largely sourced by an article by Ayana Byrd in Health.