I remember the emotional rush of those first months as readers discovered the new publication and began telling us how much they appreciated the thought that went into a magazine for (gasp) “old” people.

I recall one person saying, “Thank you for not making us look like old fuddy-duddies!”  I heard from a wife bringing a copy home to her husband who NEVER reads this kind of magazine… and her utter amazement when he said, “Finally, a magazine that I’ll read!”  And another reader who said, “I have always been terrified of getting old, until I started reading your magazine.  I’m not afraid anymore because I see so much possibility!”

Back in 2004 it was hard to find any published work that extolled the achievements of people over 55. Cartoons made fun of the aging process, depicting wrinkly women in curlers with breasts sagging to their knees and suspendered short-sighted big-gutted bald men with the unshaven jowls of a drooling pug.  When journalists talked about older people at all, it was to recount a litany of horrors caused by disease-riddled bodies and the steep, inevitable decline after 50 into the abyss of senility. Ouch!

I pledged to plot a different course with the magazine.

I eschewed becoming an advocate railing against the vast number of grievances perpetrated on the old and the vulnerable.  I chose instead to tell the stories of people who have risen above the threshold of a mediocre life to do something meaningful…people who make it a point to thrive, not just survive.

In telling these positive uplifting stories, we provided evidence that, while aging is inevitable, it is not insurmountable.  We gave lie to the beliefs that age is an enemy to be feared.  We demolished the notion that the aged are to be discarded because they are past their best-before date.

Instead, we began telling the story that the best is yet to come.

Over the past 20 years we’ve seen a steady evolution of thought that has gotten louder in praise of older persons – their resilience, creativity, wisdom and their ability to beat back the perception that a thriving lifestyle isn’t possible after the biological clock passes the half century mark.

I believe our magazine has played a big role in this evolution.

The thousands of people we’ve written about have taught me that successful aging is an inside job.  These are men and women who created their own ways and means.  They developed an inner resilience. They adopted attitudes of gratitude. They kept moving forward. And when they encountered a barrier, they found a way around it. They kept their sense of humor. They refused to succumb to negative thinking, retreat and giving up.

These past 20 years have been an evolution of thought and beliefs.

It began by holding a belief that older people were worthy of a magazine that would challenge the stereotypes, that this could be a magazine that would inspire, not degrade.  It would reveal the elegance and the gifts that only time can bestow.

Gradually, more and more people joined the revolution: Readers, employees, advertisers, sponsors and community leaders.

As we continued it was easier and easier to find the disrupters in all walks of life – those who said, “hell no” to the stereotypes and the status quo.  Writing their stories has been such a pleasure. Every issue has given me goosebumps. Those chills have been the litmus test to tell me we’re moving in the right direction, toward a better world that reveres its elders and applauds their contributions.

Age is not to be feared. It is to be celebrated.  And that is exactly what we’re doing here at the 20-year anniversary of INSPIRED.