Girlfriends, let's get real. No one can stay young forever. No
surprise there, right? Well then, why do we spend so darn much time and effort
trying to "stay young"?
We all would like to look like we did when we were 25 (or maybe not). I for one,
would not. At 25 I had those nasty crooked teeth that I no longer have and I'm
in better shape now. I would like to have the thicker brown hair I had at 25 but
that's long gone. But so what. Thank God for wigs. (By the way,
http://www.BeautyTrends.com has some very nice wigs at reasonable prices.
Check out the "Ella" model #52002 I recently purchased.. It makes me look like I
should have looked at age 25.)
Most important, I'm a lot smarter now than I was at 25. Still not as smart as I
need to be, but smarter. For example, I don't allow awareness of my
chronological age to dictate how I think or live my life. I'm living as if I
will live forever. I have no plans to move into a "Golden Ghetto" and vegetate
with depressing old ladies who wear purple hats. Frankly, I think retirement
communities should have a "black box" warning at their front gate: "Caution:
This is a place where old people come to play and decay. Enter at your own
risk."
So much for being smart. Let's get back to this "staying young" thing.
As impossible as it is to "stay young" it is not impossible to keep basic
youthful attributes. To me, that means staying healthy, strong and flexible both
mentally and physically. And, you have to be productive. (Sorry about that, but
post retirement productivity is not a punishment - it's a gift that you give
yourself to stay - are you ready for the magic word? -- ageless. More than that,
it's becoming a financial necessity.)
Being ageless requires a totally different mindset than one that's focused on
staying young. In the unreal TV show on the Bravo channel, "The Real Housewives
of Orange County", one of the unreal housewives says she is obsessed with being
young. My prediction is that she isn't going to make it. It appears she drinks
way too much and her obsession with being young is already etching stress lines
in her face. Better she should focus on living a healthier lifestyle.
Look, you are going to get wrinkles. So what. If they bother you all that much,
get them lasered away. Whatever it is about your face that bothers you, you can
get it fixed. But know this: You can be wrinkled and ageless.
If you start an exercise regimen early enough in life you can stay a shapely
size 10 forever. But if you are at a point where you no longer have a waist, so
what? What's more important is your health, and what you are doing with your
life that that is of benefit not just to you, but to others. You are going to
get aches and pains, and maybe worse. But I am firmly of the opinion that if you
take care of yourself early on, you can handle the slings and arrows of old age
more effectively.
I often quote Dr. John W. Rowe, author of Successful Aging who maintains
that how well we age is 70 percent the result of lifestyle choices. The rest -
30 percent -- we can blame on our genes. Here's the reality: The older you get
the more that 30 percent tries to rule and ruin your life. Having said that, I
also firmly believe that if you take good care of yourself while you "still got
it goin' on" the negative side of your genetic makeup can be mitigated. It
doesn't always work, but I believe it takes the "edge" off of whatever happens.
For example, many people believe arthritis, or the tendency toward it, is
inherited, and once you get it you are stuck with it. Maybe so. But plenty of
people have learned how to manage and even eliminate arthritic symptoms --
inherited or not -- with exercise and diet.
And diabetes? Your mother and father may be diabetic but it's not a foregone
conclusion that you will be diabetic if you learn how to eat right. Here's a
quick test of how well you are managing your diet: When was the last time you
purchased a five pound bag or sugar? For me, it was at least five years ago. I
only use sugar only at Christmas to prepare traditional family favorites --
German potato salad and sweet and sour red cabbage. If you never buy sugar, you
are way ahead of the aging game.
Here's the bottom line. Staying young is impossible. Let's get over it. That
doesn't mean we should stop trying to look as good as we can. Every woman wants
to look great and she should. However, chasing youth sometimes gets in the way
of common sense, which should tell us when it's time to stop doing stupid stuff
that will never get us to where we once were or would like to be.
Listening to our common sense means we stop buying expensive cosmetics that
can't possibly do what they promise and instead, buy supplements and quality
food. It means that instead of buying more clothes and worthless junk we buy a
treadmill. I often watch a home shopping show while walking on my treadmill.
It's disturbing that so many obviously old women call in to buy rings, bracelets
and other useless trinkets. I wonder if they spend the same amount of money to
stay healthy or improve their health.
Being ageless should be the Holy Grail of the aging process. It's the one thing
we can control because it's a choice - an act of the will and not a whim of
the Universe. If you can muster enough determination and toughness to outsmart
the machinations of Mother Time by deciding to live an ageless lifestyle, the
payoff is unbelievable. When you choose to be ageless, when you choose to ignore
your chronological age you finally get to experience an exhilarating liberation
that no amount of trying to stay young can equal or produce.
