When aging is good

It’s no secret that everyone wants to look and feel younger. Excepting those who are in fact young. Just wait….

We live in a world where “Eternal Youth” is the crown jewel. Nothing new, this mindset has existed since ancient times. Lest we forget Ponce de León thought he discovered the Fountain of Youth in 1513, though it ultimately turned out to be Florida. The internet probably would have been quite handy back then!

When IS aging well received? Let’s consider wine, cheese, beef and even leather, but what about people? Arguably you can find advantages and disadvantages to everything, though in this case the perks may not be so obvious. After all, when was the last time you heard anyone beaming about getting older? Someone two weeks away from the legal drinking age doesn’t count.

No, it’s a youth driven society so if you’re not exactly fresh, young or blossoming, you’d better hope that you’ve gained some footing. Frankly, it’s paramount because any knowledge acquired will be countered by gravity. Hence it has been referred to as “Fighting the good fight”. At least you’ll have a beautiful mind.

Oh and not to worry, you will battle. Your inner warrior will instinctively kick in to thwart those evil forces. At the onset you begin to challenge yourself in totally new ways both physically and mentally. Some take on a new sport, run a marathon, climb a mountain or whatever seems confronting. It’s actually quite liberating to be such a driving force and even better when you see the fruits of your labor.

Obviously, this development will differ between individuals because it’s highly personal. Regardless, a change of heart in how we see ourselves will undoubtedly occur at some point.

Usually once the noticeable physical adjustments are warranted  i.e. needing more sleep, longer recovery periods, nursing mystery aches and reliance on a well established anti-aging regimen (Yes fellas, fanatically working on that six pack is comparable) you can expect to receive your “free bonus gift”; some degree of self assurance. It’s just nature’s trade-off like it or not.

Cross my heart, somewhere between deciding which parties to attend over the weekend and turning down dinner invitations simply because it’s a weekday, you learn to become more self accepting.  Hopefully anyway, because there are still those “young at heart” folks sporting Ed Hardy and “Milf” tee’s that can assuredly give any twenty-something a run for their money.  Good for them!

But I think for most us, as you get older you start to feel a stronger sense of being. Maybe less self conscious (neurotic in my case), more resolute in choosing our battles and not so easily knocked off center. We begin to appreciate where we’ve been and who we’ve become.

My attitudes toward aging have certainly adjusted as I’ve evolved.  PLEASE spare me the Darwinian debate, okay? At the moment, I’m smack dab in the middle give or take per my calculations (*estimates may vary by individual). Metaphorically, if mid-life was on the map I’d say it was the equator since it doesn’t belong to either hemisphere.

A peculiar place indeed because you’re too old to be young but too young to be old. Some type of limbo that serves as an intermission to brace you for things to come.

Still, why are people so fearful or resistant to aging? Besides the obvious aesthetic factor which is apparent given that beauty is customarily associated with youth, something else must be a party to it all.

Perhaps it has to do with the goals that we have or have not achieved by “X” point in our lives. Purely speculation, but how many times have you heard someone say that their lives don’t look anything like the life they imagined or dreamed of?

Furthermore, for whatever reason my age seems to have more prominence in my daily thoughts. Possibly because I believe that I should be less bewildered at this stage not to mention I’m beginning to bear a slight resemblance to “Comedy & Tragedy” masks.

Ultimately, I suspect my innate alarm clock may be reminding me that I can no longer afford to be extravagant with my choices.

No matter, we’ll still go kicking and screaming into the depths of our advancing years unable to fully appreciate the benefits until we get there.  Just remember, there is no guarantee to how far our ladder of existence extends. As someone recently told me “We don’t know our expiration date.” Fret wisely…..