Alice McGinty (@AbsolutelyAlice_ ) is a traveler, artist, life coach, and an inspiration online. She also happens to be just four years shy of her 100th birthday, but this doesn’t stop her from living a healthy and happy life. It does bring up questions, though, about how senior citizens in the U.S. often feel like they’ve been sent off to pasture, without emotional or logistical support. McGinty wants to do something about it.

Residing in Ohio, McGinty is a vibrant member of her community. She attends yoga and Pilates classes regularly. She’s an artist who displays her work in local art shows and has become quite renowned for it. And she often makes videos on social media sharing her thoughts on aging, which resonate with many.

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In one video posted to Instagram, McGinty talks about what the “third part of life” feels like. “I have real strong feelings about the third part of life. Maybe 75 on to 100. I’m 96, and I feel this part of my life has been the most important of all, maybe because I have to emphasize and assure myself that living every day fully and learning and changing and working and whatever, but LIVING is okay.”

She shares her frustration. “Because the world isn’t telling me that. They’re telling me, I get the feeling from the world is ‘listen lady, you’re at the end of your life. Just take it easy and forget it.’ I am not into that. I feel we have to make a very strong statement in schools, in colleges, and among ourselves that it’s huge, this third part of life! And that we can do almost everything we did and even better.”

‘The older I get, the happier I get’

So many Instagrammers felt seen by McGinty’s statements. One shares, “I’m 71 years old and feel just like you. I’m really looking forward to the next 25 years, if I get that many! The older I get, the happier I get. And everything I do is SO meaningful!”

Another understandably fired-up commenter responds, “I absolutely hate and detest the ageism in our society. We should venerate our elders. Everything........

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