age gracefully

Changes in their physical body, experiences they may never have as their current life choices take them in a different direction, some mysterious “young cool people’s club” they’ll never be able to gain access to any more.

I have been having the opposite experience. On the bus lately, I have been encountering really cool, sassy and feisty middle-aged women. And the more I talk to them, the cooler and cooler I realize they are. Definitely kindred spirits. I can’t believe I didn’t notice them before! I feel like there just might be some mysterious “cool old people’s club” that, if I’m lucky, I will eventually be cool enough (and old enough) to join.

So I guess I must be doing this!

Definitely not. Luckily my family has a rich tradition of dynamic, passionate women staying lively and active into old age. So I have good role models and don’t fear getting older.

I want to work with nature, not against it. ‘Cuz I’m getting older either way, whether I like it or not! But I want to take care of my physical, mental and emotional health so all my systems will keep working for a long time—I’m gonna need them! I’ve got things to do, the world needs me!

But if I see one more cosmetics commercial that claims to reverse aging, I’m gonna throw something at my TV. Why would I want to fight so hard against a natural process? Do we try to stop the sun from setting?

I don’t want to look younger, or disguise my actual age. I just want to be as healthy and real as I can be, and enjoy the age I really am. (Today that’s 35.) That’s what makes me beautiful, not disguising my true age.