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Aging as a Dirty Word

These days I find it scary the way aging seems to be moving into the terrain of becoming a dirty word. Seriously, I hear it around me more and more where someone is referred to as old, “he’s getting old” or  “Wow, she looks old” and many other variations in between.

It’s no wonder so many celebrities and even regular everyday people are risking their lives to go under the knife. While I can appreciate that aging is a bit scary, it shouldn’t become such a dirty word. Life after all is a cycle. Interestingly, I recently overheard someone in their mid-thirties referred to someone a few years older as being old’ in a disdainful manner.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall when many 20-somethings and 30-somethings move into the next decade of their lives. I can remember one woman becoming hysterical at work the day she hit 30. It was so dramatic, she wept and she couldn’t eat. A few months ago, someone else, on reaching 40 declared that she was now so old – life was over.

Seriously, I find it a tad amusing how much focus we place on the aging process. So many of us are so taken with the dread of getting older that we forget to live and enjoy our lives. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, so why worry about something that may never happen. You may never live to be 30 or 40 or 50…enjoy what you have now.

I remember at 18 that a 40-year old seemed positively ancient, but now I look around and realize that aging isn’t to be feared so much if you live life to the fullest. I look at a blooming Halle Berry, the beautiful Jaime Lee Curtis, a fresh-looking Michelle Obama, and of course Dame Helen Mirren to name just a few and realize that beautify and vitality defy age.

Even among my family members, friends and peers it is amazing to see how beautiful those who love life are. Their looks and actions defy aging. I recently told a colleague who was pointing out a retiree to me, that time is moving so fast, people don’t have so much time to look older.  How else to explain how a 65 year old looked like a 45 year old?

Aging itself isn’t to be feared so much as to be embraced. We must accept that unless we die young it is a road we will all walk. Only then will aging no longer be a bad word. My issues with getting older are with not attempting the things I want to do – I want to climb the Eiffel Tower and go skydiving. Guess I better start seriously looking at ways to make some money so that I can live my dreams.
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rafiah latiker said…
Thank you for your article.I wish I could print it on on giant billboards and place it all around the city where I am currently living, there are many people living here who have an enormous problem with aging men and women but as you stated unless you plan to die early in life it's something we all have to face. I love to read about men and women who defy public opinion about aging and boldly continue to pursue and enjoy life to it's fullest what we forget all of us middle age and beyond need role models to inspire us and teach us it's never to late to achieve the wonderful things life can offer.
8:40 AM
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