Aging Gracefully

"Aging is the process of growing old or maturing. Humans reach their peak in growth and development when they are in their mid 20s. After this point, the body gradually becomes less functional over time," (http://www.wellness.com/reference/conditions/aging/) According to this article, it's all downhill from this point forth, but I can't help feeling reluctant.

In today's society, there are even double-standards for aging when it comes to men and women. Men get older and they're  more attractive, sexier and smarter. Women age, and we get called cougars or hags, depending on how we look (not for what we've accomplished.) I've spent a lot of time and fight insisting that equality between the sexes can be achieved, and I haven't quit, but I've stopped getting worked up about it. I sure as heck, don't want to get so worked up that I'll end up suffering a heart attack because my body is now working less efficient than before (that was a joke.) And, while the above article, holds truth I refuse to let it be a truth in my own personal life.

So here's what's happened in the past year. I've surrounded myself around older people, whose life stories I've come to greatly enjoy. And not one of them has life figured out, and they're still on these amazing rides in this rollercoaster, we call life.  And at some point, I sadly realized that I have spent the last six years of my life obsessing over school, jobs, status and money. I have not one thing, that I thought I would have at this age.

After reality's hard slap in the face, I decided to stop dwelling about not having the ideal life that I had pictured for myself when I was 16. I'm such a different person today, than I was when I was 16, so why on Earth was I still obsessing over this thought, but it was there and it haunted me persistently and kept me from  being happy. The day came when I had to loosen my grip on the idea of idealism and let it go completely. Only then, it's when I started living life again and being happy. And just for anyone's information, the minute you have life all figured out, you're  pretty much done living.

So thanks to my "elders," and  my "sudden" realizations, my life is mine again, not my former's self. As much as I'd want to obsess over wanting to kick myself in the ass for not having realized this sooner, if I started obsessing over that too, then it would just simply signify that I didn't learn much in the first place.

So ladies and gent, in honor of my upcoming birth's anniversary, I'm blogging about age and life :)

So my birthday  is nearing itself for the 27th time, and I just found my first gray hair, and I might have even begun to wrinkle; I'm a little overweight for my own standards, I don't dress up all the time anymore, and sometimes I can care less about how my hair looks, or if my make-up is just right ...What I'm getting to is that I am less than perfect, yet I have never felt so confident in my entire life. I'm comfortable in my own skin, and that's not only a wonderful feeling, it's also sexy and empowering. The aforementioned things, along with wisdom, experience and compassion (all of which come with age) is what aging gracefully is all about. Forget the liposuction, the botox and the implants as implemented by today's societal standards; however, on that same token, if those things make you feel better then by all means go right ahead and do them, but do them for you, in order to make yourself better, and not because your significant other or friends tell you to do it. In the end, it's your life, so just do you.

With every passing year, I feel time ticks faster and faster and I'm learning to not take things for granted, to be less of a brat and to enjoy the simplest of things, like breathing or enjoying the scenery, when I'm stuck in traffic for an hour. I've also learned that beauty stems from the inside and comes through on the outside, and that too has come from getting older and so at this very moment, with no make-up on and my hair in a crazy-looking bun, I can't feel anymore beautiful.

Sidenote: I literally thought I'd die the day I found my first gray hair and now that I'm approaching 30, well the old me would have called it quits, and if you personally know me, you know I'm vain; however, the new me is more than just fine with these things, and this is the best birthday gift I have given myself.

My blog is about everything in life, and I want to know what makes you feel beautiful and graceful with age?

I want to leave you with one thought: "Embrace age, for if you won't, then who will "... and remember the best tasting wines are the aged ones ;)

xoxo
your GTG

"The years teach much which the days never knew"

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2