Fountain Of Youth

If there were a real Fountain of Youth, would you drink the water?

As I’m closer to 50 now than to 30 I often think about how “old” I am. When we were kids women in their 40’s seemed so old. They were mom’s with already pretty big kids and many of them had cut their hair short and changed their style of dressing to what was labeled as “appropriate for their age”. But was is appropriate for an age group?

I remember being at Uni and a girl who I used to sit next to during lectures. She was dating a guy who lived in the town next to where I grew up and had just spent a couple of days somewhere on a beach with him and his parents. His mom must have been in her very early 50’s then and honestly looked more like being in her late 30’s. She was super fit and healthy and I always thought that I’d wish to look like her when reaching the big 5.

So this girl was talking about their days on the beach and then got really upset about the fact that the “mother-in-law” had the guts to wear a bikini. She said something down the line of “it’s just not appropriate in her age anymore”. I couldn’t believe my ears and my eyes as I saw the almost disgust expression on her face.

There are so many things wrong with saying something like this!

First of all: Everyone should be able a bikini if they feel comfortable in their skin, no matter what others think. If you don’t like the way it looks just simply don’t look at them!

Just because someone reached a certain age doesn’t mean they have to change the way they dress from cool to boring. Again: They should wear whatever feels comfortable to them and they like to wear. If you don’t like it, don’t look at it.

Now back to the question. Would I drink the water of a fountain of youth if one existed?

Frankly, I don’t think so.

I truly believe that you are as old as you feel. Sometimes that might be older than your actual age and sometimes it might be much younger. I know that they say 40 is the new 30 and so on. And frankly I do like the idea. Not because I don’t want to be 40 something but because it kind of tells me that I might be around to enjoy this beautiful life for a tiny bit longer than generations before ours might have been.

  
I feel comfortable in my skin, although there are some wrinkles I never had with 20. My body doesn’t look the way it did 20 years ago but I like how it is today as much as I did back then. The red color of my hair might not be as deep as it was 20 years ago but it’s still special and beautiful and I know it will always be special and beautiful.

We always look at getting older in a negative way. We tend to only see the “downside” of a changing body, a changing skin, changing color of the hair. Yes, we have to put more effort into keeping fit and healthy and recovery takes longer than it used to. But what about the upside?

Have you ever considered the upside of not being 20 any more?

I’m for sure much wiser today than I was 20 years ago. I am so much more grounded and I for sure know what I want from life. Would I want to swap that for a younger look? Nope.

I think we need to see getting older as a privilege and something beautiful. We have to stop looking at old people as if they are an annoying side effect of life. We need to get back to looking at them as the wise ones, the ones that can tell us about the past and teach us things (I know, I know, not everyone is wise enough… but hey, you can filter them out, right?).

Moving through the different stages of life is like going through a year and it’s seasons. There’s spring when everything sprouts and grows and is fresh and vivid. Then there’s summer when everything is in it’s fullest and then there’s fall and eventually winter. I’m at the end of my summer and getting into fall. And I’m excited about it (falls my favorite season anyway). I’m glad I made it to this point of life and thankful for they way I made it here. I’m excited to discover what’s still in front of me although I know that from now on, it will get “chillier”.

Life is what life is about. A cycle we should respect and a ride we should enjoy.

Inspired by the Daily Post Daily Prompt – Forever Young