I wonder what my mother would have thought about zombies taking over the world, or what some of us affectionately call “The Zombie Apocalypse.”  Would she have picked up my father’s rifle when she saw them come onto the farm? Would she have aimed and blown them away?

Or, would she cower inside her house and simply die?

I’d like to think that she would revert back to her old self – that self-confident young woman who went out into the world like That Girl, an old sitcom starring Marlo Thomas – the person she was before settling down into domesticity – marrying my father when he came home from the War (WWII, that is) and having children.

I’d like to think she would be one of those folks who took up arms and defended herself and others – and generally took care of business.

The world would certainly be different for her (and for us) if we had a catastrophic event. We would have to relearn how to take care of ourselves and keep alive. We would have to bring back those skills that we knew from a very long time ago, before convenience food came into play. We would have to survive, not watch Survivor.

We go through a series of ups and downs as we grow older. Some of us embrace change. Others just sit on the sidelines, get grumpy, complain a lot, and become more afraid. Yes, we are getting older, but are we getting wiser? Here is an excerpt from my book, Discover the Life You Want to Live, about this very subject:

• Each of us grows older every day. It’s how we continue to use our time that makes us wiser. What makes a wise person?   It is a person we can respect. It is a person who is a hopeless romantic and a reluctant leader. This person has learned capabilities as well as intuitiveness. It is a person who can learn about new things every day. It is a person who has achieved mastery in something. A wise person gives a little to someone each day to make her life better. This is what I am working on as I get older – to be a wise person who is a role model, and a person that people will respect.

•  We are all getting older, but are we getting wiser?  Are we learning and contributing something to society each day through our actions?  Ask yourself, “Why should people listen to me?”  “What right do I have to give advice either to my peers or the younger generation?”  If you believe you have achieved everything you asked of yourself, in the above questions, then you have earned the right to be called a wise woman and be respected.

• Women’s studies describe three archetypes of women:  maiden, mother and crone. The wise women were known as crones. A crone is an idea that we can all embody to help the younger women (maidens). And, with modern medicine, we can become older mothers, which let us bridge the gap between all three. We can create a community that helps each other

We do get older every day. That’s a fact of life. If we can believe in ourselves, do something good and stop with the “I can’ts,” we will be happy with our lives when we finally leave this world. It takes more time and energy to sit around and complain about everything. Why can’t we take this energy and fix the very thing we are whining about – become involved? Think how powerful senior citizens have become. Let’s do something positive as a group, not just worry about keeping mine.

I think if my mother were alive today, she would be proud of what her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have accomplished. We have embraced change and will continue to learn how to survive the Zombie Apocalypse.