The Kind of World I’d Like to Grow Old In

Not the world we live in. Not the one we argue about online. Not the one that greets us every morning through headlines filled with wars, anger, and things we’ve somehow learned to scroll past.

I’m talking about the world we might still be able to build – if enough of us slow down, soften a little, and care in small but stubborn ways.

This is the kind of world I’d like to grow old in.

A world where kindness isn’t rare or suspicious

Where being kind doesn’t make people ask, “What do you want in return?” Where goodness isn’t treated like weakness or naïveté.

A world where holding the door, checking in, or giving someone grace isn’t considered extraordinary, just normal. Expected. Human.

Right now, kindness often feels like a rare currency. When we see it, we’re surprised. Sometimes even uncomfortable. That alone says a lot about the world we’re living in.

A world where people listen without preparing their response

Where listening isn’t just a pause before speaking, and conversations aren’t treated like competitions that need to be won.

A world where people feel heard without being corrected, interrupted, or turned into a debate topic before they’ve even finished a sentence.

We live in a time where everyone has something to say, yet very few feel truly listened to. I’d like to grow old in a world that remembers listening is not passive, it’s an act of respect.

A world where we don’t need tragedy to remember our humanity

Right now, it often takes something terrible to bring us together. A war. A disaster. A loss so big that it breaks through our indifference. Only then do we pause, feel, donate, pray, or speak about compassion.

I’d like to grow old in a world where empathy isn’t something we switch on only during crises, but something that exists quietly in everyday moments, without needing a headline to justify it.

A world that still stops to look at the night sky and wonder

A world that occasionally looks up (I mean, really looks up), and remembers how small we are.

A world that pauses under the night sky, stares at the stars, and feels that quiet sense of wonder that no argument, ideology, or breaking news can compete with.

Up there, in the vastness of space, so many of our truths still exist. Time stretches. Perspective shifts. And suddenly, the things we fight over every day feel incredibly insignificant.

I’d like to grow old in a world that remembers this – that not everything needs to be conquered, controlled, or explained. Some things are meant to humble us, to remind us that we are part of something much larger than our fears and our egos.

A world where people don’t fear growing old alone

Where ageing isn’t treated like fading into the background, and older people aren’t slowly made to feel irrelevant or invisible. A world where community doesn’t shrink with age, and where growing older means gaining perspective, not losing value.

Because the fear of growing old isn’t really about time passing; it’s about being forgotten. I’d like to grow old in a world that refuses to forget its people.

A world where outrage isn’t the loudest language

A world where anger doesn’t travel faster than understanding, and certainty doesn’t drown out curiosity. Where disagreement doesn’t automatically turn into dehumanisation, and people aren’t reduced to labels the moment they think differently.

Not a world without conflict, but one with more restraint, more patience, and more willingness to see the person behind the opinion.

A world that values people more than performance

Where rest isn’t something you have to earn through exhaustion, and worth isn’t measured solely by productivity. A world that understands that a constantly tired society cannot be a thoughtful one, and that slowing down is sometimes the most responsible thing we can do.

A world where people don’t perform their goodness

A world where kindness isn’t broadcast, branded, or announced in captions. Where doing the right thing doesn’t require an audience, and goodness isn’t measured by how visible it is.

Somewhere along the way, doing good became something to prove instead of something to live.
If no one sees it, records it, or applauds it, we quietly start wondering if it even matters.

But the truth is – some of the most meaningful good in this world has always happened quietly.

That’s something we were reminded of again and again while working on Unfold the Stories of Unsung Heroes.

People who didn’t set out to be inspiring.
People who didn’t wait for recognition.
People who simply noticed suffering, injustice, or need and responded, often at great personal cost, without expecting their names to travel any further than their conscience.

Their goodness didn’t trend. It didn’t go viral. In many cases, it wasn’t even known outside a small circle, sometimes not even there.

And yet, it mattered.

I’d like to grow old in a world that understands this again. A world where decency doesn’t need witnesses, and kindness doesn’t lose its value just because it stays unseen.

Not a perfect world. Just a kinder, more aware one

I’m not imagining a flawless place where nothing goes wrong. I’m imagining a world that feels livable, forgiving, and human.

A world where people are allowed to make mistakes, change their minds, and grow without being permanently defined by their worst moment.

And maybe it starts smaller than we think

Maybe it doesn’t begin with policies or movements or grand declarations. Maybe it starts with how we speak when we’re tired, how we treat people who inconvenience us, and how we show up when no one is keeping score.

Maybe the world we want to grow old in begins quietly with ordinary choices, made consistently.

So I’ll ask you this, gently:

What kind of world would you like to grow old in?

Not the one we argue about.
The one you’d actually want to live in.

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