Keep Your Age in Perspective

By Alina Mikos

Turn Away From the Ticking Clock!

In a culture focused on youth and beauty, it’s easy to see why obsessing over the ticking clock has become a habitual pastime for many. While some men fall victim to aging fears in their own way, more often it’s women who stress over the changes associated with getting older. In this country, youth tends to be admired and favored, while the elderly are often considered a burden to be taken care of (unlike some cultures where the elderly are valued for their worldliness and wisdom). Let’s look at the effects of this mind-frame in a little more detail.
“I’m Ready for My Close-up, Mr. Deville”
Some women may use makeup and clothes as a way to feel and appear significantly younger. While everyone should feel free to make their own choices—and find their personal happiness—overly youthful garb and makeup could signify an inability to move forward in life. Physical changes are inevitable as you age; accepting these changes can be liberating.
Cosmetic Surgery Craze
Evidence of the effects of age obsession in society can be seen by increasing popularity of cosmetic surgery. While nips, tucks, eye lifts, and face lifts are considered more extreme, the amount of Botox and collagen usage among Americans is quite substantial. This approach seems to do the job well enough in small doses, but there are a growing number of women who overdo the surgeries and injections and are left with overly taut, barely recognizable faces.
A Love Affair With Youth
Sometimes issues with aging are manifested in the affairs men and women have with partners half their age or more. This is not to say that dating out of your age range is a poor choice; just that statistically, people in the mid-life-crisis range tend to date drastically younger people more than at any other time in their lives. One possible explanation is that surrounding themselves with youth creates the illusion they too are young again. That said, there have been many successful May/December romances which are not based in the older person’s desire to reclaim their youth.
Living Vicariously Through Your Children
As parents deeply love their children, naturally they want to be an integral part of their lives. Unfortunately, a few parents take that next step- living out their lives the second time around through their children. While this may initially be fun for both parent and child, the long-term effects can leave a child feeling like their parent’s needs are more important than theirs.
Everyone ages. Some allow it to happen naturally, while others may fight it tooth-and-nail. Many women put a lot of time, effort, and money into looking their youthful best. While this may make some women happy, it cannot be enjoyable to obsess over every wrinkle. Perhaps, it’s better to live your life completely, loving and accepting yourself for everything you naturally are. Ironically, it’s often the people who stress less about the normal and inevitable things in life—such as aging—who end up appearing eternally young