A
few days back, a much younger colleague of mine got to know my age and remarked
that I’m becoming an old hag. My reaction to that was that I always wanted to grow
up, and fast. To be 30 meant achieving the biggest milestone of one’s life; and
it indeed was a milestone of my life.
For
the last 10 years or so, I have been seeing so many friends and colleagues,
running after beauty products, anti-aging products and even Photoshop/filters
only to look much younger than what they really are, to the extent of a seeming youth
mania.
I
sometimes feel tempted to ask, how ‘bout turning into a six month old infant? They all want to look younger, don’t they? What’s better than turning into an
infant! That is after all, the ultimate destination and an underlying
expectation.
Age has been the ultimate, inevitable
truth of life. So then, why are we so scared of something that would prove that
we have lived our share? Why do we keep running after the fountain of
superficial youth while we keep making attempts to kill the real youth within?
A
cosmetic company did a “7 signs of aging” campaign a few years back to cash
upon the low self esteem of their target base. With my 31st around
the corner I thought of doing my own take on the 7 signs of aging in an attempt to restore the lost pride...
1.
Generation
gap:
When you look at a girl wearing extra
short dress and suddenly panic that she forgot to wear her pants
2.
The Body
of Truth:
When you notice the change in weather because
your bones started aching
3.
Did your
waistline just crack up?
When your waistline throws a tough
competition to your age-line
4.
Alone
time:
When you appreciate spending weekends home,
sleeping
5.
Tax-savers.inc:
When night-out fun means buying your
favourite liquor, getting food packed and crashing at your own place or a
friend’s
6.
From Taj
Mahal to the Leaning Tower of Pisa:
When an increase in bra size stops meaning
bloom but sag
7.
Back to
the era of Scarlett O’Hara:
When you need a corset only to be able to
make use of all those clothes in your closet
Now,
now, aging ain’t all that bad. Don’t believe me? Well, read on…
1.
You finally feel in control of your life
2.
You are financially stable
3.
Your friend circle has reduced to a sensible few
4.
You’ve stopped caring about who says what about
you not in defiance but in indifference. You have come a long way, really.
5.
You see the traces of crow’s feet at the corner
of your eyes and humour lines around your mouth? Know that you’ve laughed all
the years behind you and smile again.
6.
You’ve ditched the magazine look book as you no
more care about general perception but your own comfort and taste
7.
That red lipstick doesn’t scream for attention any
more, but blends with your personality
8.
You are more open to experiment with your food,
makeup, clothes, travel and more, not to please someone else but for your own
experience
Well, you see? You are full of grace about your life and the
choices that you’ve made. Aging is the proof that you have lived your own share
and not trying to hide that means that you have loved each day that you lived.
So, dear
ladies and gentlemen… Stop dreading the only proof of your life. Stop dreading
the age, embrace it.
4 comments:
Read this while watching The curious case of Benjamin Button.. can't seem more apt, can it?
You know aging is like falling in love with oneself or least trying to or making an attempt at doing just that.
As in the movie he is full of curiosity and yearning but failed by his body when he is old..he felt and looked good but his mind and thoughts failed him when he is young..his mid-life is where he found his happiest days in life.. and so it is with our lives (barring obvious changes).. we are curious and awkward with our bodies and thoughts when we are young..still awkward with our bodies and forgetful of our minds when we are old.. but almost wise and glorious and truly alive in our mid-lives..
30s a good place to be.. :)
Thank you so much, Ranjan.... :)
How about relationships and how we deal with them oft time...
With age also comes a grace in handling relationships. That is when we start evolving, we realise the futility of ego and superficial sense of self-respect. We get the courage to say sorry when we are on the wrong side and we also get enough sense to say "no" when things have gone too far. Well, at least that would be the utopian aging if you ask me. :)
In general people also start killing their true selves just to please the ones around them which later leads to a bizarre conflict within their being.
The right thing to do in any relationship is to keep the channels of communication open and to keep an open mind.
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