When it comes to how I deal with aging, I like to think of finding an honest and personalized approach. I started lifdb because I wanted a way to collate the information I gather about living a happy life, so I can access the information easily. This piece is for those times when getting old hits me. And aging goes beyond looks. It comes with loss, pain, and dying. I hope to read it when I feel those moments creeping in. I hope you will find this helpful as well.
How do you feel?
As a society, we like to think of our age in decades. We put more stock in turning 30, compared to when we turn 36, for example. Although there’s logic in looking at chronological age, biological age matters. You feel helpless when you think of age as a number, so think of age as a measure of your health. How do you feel today? Did you allow your body to move? Did you respect what it’s asking for today?
Do what feels right
Society has certain expectations about what it means to enter a phase in our life. Think of how society has shaped your ideas of age—what you can and can’t do, and how you look or how your body changes. There’s no need to prove anyone wrong, but just be aware of how these expectations are shaping the way you’re behaving. If society’s expectations about age restricts your potential or shapes what you’re becoming, don’t let it.
Age is not always the answer
Age is not the answer to every ache and pain you feel. It’s easy to revert to age as the reason for our behavior or how we feel. But you are more than your age. If your right knee feels sore, maybe it’s from hiking and keeping active!
The truths
Accept these truths: you will get more gray hair and wrinkles. Face the inevitable and be at peace with it and how you deal with it. But also know that this process will happen gradually, so you have time to figure it out. Remember to be hopeful: the world is constantly thinking of ways to keep your hair color naturally and your skin looking fine.
Just stop it
If you think you’re old today, remember that you’re older tomorrow. So stop feeling old today because you’ll regret it tomorrow. You will wish when you’re 50 that you didn’t call yourself old when you were 40.
Find a way
There are benefits to aging and you have to see them. You’ve enjoyed what the world has to offer for a longer period of time. You have more experience living. You have had more opportunities to live and love. And if you feel any regret in life, aging means that you get more chances to fulfill dreams, right the wrongs, do work you find fulfilling, and love more.
When you win
Several studies have shown that aging is a mind-set. The more we approach aging positively, actively, and not let aging make us feel old, the healthier we are. To deal with aging doesn’t mean that it’s a problem. It’s a part of life. Rather, it’s acknowledging that the process can be scary. I hope you can build on these so you can find your own path.
