Of course we have no choice in the aging process. It is going to happen if we are lucky enough to live long enough to see the changes. What is on my mind lately is how hard some of us work to hide the fact that we are aging. I just wish there was as much focus on celebrating getting older.
It is quite funny that when we are in our teens, we cannot wait to get older and have more responsibilities and then when we are in our 40's we begin to wish we could stop the clock. I think this is quite normal but as I write I am in my mid-fifties and in need of role models who aren't trying to cover up the aging process.
Hey I am not bashing anyone who wants to try to hang onto their youthful appearance through surgery or fillers or fancy creams etc., but if we all do this, how are we to know what it means to actually be fifty, sixty, seventy or eighty? Are we gypping the next generation somehow by continuing to promote youth over aging?
I am in the business of helping people to live long, healthy lives. I tout the benefits of regular fitness any chance I get. Working out regularly keeps us mobile, strong and flexible which helps us to live active lives. I am inspired daily by my clients who use exercise to remain physically fit. The trouble I am facing is it feels like folks my own age are reaching for the anti-wrinkle creams, the lip and cheek fillers and very uncomfortable body shape wear to hide their bodies and even surgery to alter their appearance.
What if, like me, you are exhausted by trying to hide the obvious signs of aging? What if you just want to let it all happen naturally? Why does it feel like I am somehow giving up if I stop trying to look like I did when I was twenty?
I met with an Ayurvedic practitioner one year ago and she said something that stopped me in my tracks. "You know you are heading into the fall season of your life cycle right now and it is okay to start to slow down and embrace the changes in a positive light."
Maybe I need to stop fighting the natural order of things and really live in the moment.
Maybe all of us need to look less in the mirror and more into each others eyes and really see one another for who we happen to be.
What do you think?
Beth