In this guide I hope to offer some warm advice to help you reassess your relationship to aging so you feel better about getting older.
As you read this post (and as I write it), the aging process is going on all around us. In fact, you and I will both be a little older when this article is finished. This much is natural and healthy, and of course, necessary for life.
But it’s also true that getting older can be a daunting process for many people. You’re not silly for thinking that way either – much of our poetry, art, music and even civilizational arrangements are based on such essential natural components as aging and time.
After all, when we make plans for the future, even for a dinner date, we do so with the implicit understanding that time will pass, and we may be a different person then.
All of this is fairly fundamental. But it feels no less profound when we think about life and how strangely wonderful it is.
And so it’s normal try to fight its effects, and have trouble accepting themselves as they get a little older, trying to reclaim the youth they may have matured from.
That’s why in this guide I aim not to mock you, dismiss those feelings, or make you feel silly for holding them. Instead, I hope to offer some warm advice to help you reassess your relationship to aging. And move forward in life with more confidence.
I’m sharing this guide because I am bestselling wellness author. I wrote a longevity book called Life is Long. Plus I founded a nutritionist recommended online program called The Stop Emotional Eating Course.
With that in mind, let’s begin…
Accept ChangeUltimately, the one thing that doesn’t change is the presence of change itself. If you work on accepting change, even when it’s difficult, you make life much easier for yourself. This also translates to aging. It’s important to take signs of aging as a good sign.
For example, if you’re a man and you’re balding in your mid-30s, sure there are ways to counteract it that remain healthy and more than valid. But take solace in the fact that this is a natural sign of aging, unless otherwise diagnosed it isn’t a health condition to be worried about, and as time goes forward you can grow into this look, too.
The truth is, if we accept change, we can start seeing the good in it.
For example, it’s a privilege to reach your forties, even if you notice some wrinkles around the eyes. Not everyone, unfortunately, has the good fortune to make it to this mid-way point in life. For this reason, those eye wrinkles can be a point of pride, showing that no matter what you’ve been through, you’re here today. As such, aging isn’t seen as a form of ill-health, but something to celebrate the chance to experience.
Much of aging-related anxiety is looks-based. Of course, none of us want to seem so vapid, but is it really vapid to be concerned with how you look and wanting to make the best impression? Of course not.
But it’s funny how when someone reaches their advanced years, we don’t dismiss them for their age-related looks. We don’t look at our grandparents and dismiss them for being “less attractive” than they were in youth. In fact, their homely sense of maturity and dignity comes to the forefront, and that in itself is a very worthwhile form of beauty.
That said, adjusting your look to better suit how you feel is in no way a bad thing. If you’d prefer to have skin treatments or breast augmentation to feel your most confident, that doesn’t mean you’re scared of aging. It’s just a preference in terms of how you’d like to look. If you can healthily make that distinction, you have nothing to worry about, and you don’t have to justify that decision to anyone either.
We tend to think that who we were in the past must be who we are now, but as we said above, people change. How does this relate to accepting aging more comfortably? Well, it might be that a hobby you like, a commitment you have or a dedication you made can be altered to better suit you now.
For example, it might be that you’ve been in a professional role for twenty years. But now, you fancy a change. The beauty of aging and the worth of having limited time on this planet can inspire us to start something anew because we feel like it.
The same goes for having an old tattoo you received when you were in a relationship covered up with a new design. To age is to change, and so don’t feel bad if you move out of the parameters you were living in before. People are diverse in character, and as we grow our tastes and inspirations change. Allowing yourself the freedom to enjoy that focus can help you feel aging is much less worrying, because you stop limiting yourself based on what you can and can’t do. Age, for the most part, is just a number.
They say youth is wasted on the young, and while that might seem an indictment on young people, the truth is that all of us, pretty much everyone, is a little immature in our youth. That’s natural. After all, it takes time, experience, and many different life situations to really know who we are and what we value.
While our bodies might age and become slightly less capable than when we were younger, age offers bountiful riches for our mind and spirit that can help us live with confidence.
For example, you may be more likely to earn more than you had as a teen or someone in their twenties, meaning you can enjoy your off days or time with family more comfortably. Moreover, the plans you made in the past are determined to benefit you now.
We also tend to become a little more serene as we age. Now we know to come away from people who don’t connect with us, to avoid getting in undue conflict, and to avoid being naive. These lessons are often hard-won but they allow us to become more focused in life. Moreover, we learn what really matters, and that in itself has a great grounding effect.
Put simply, you may prefer the older you much more than the confused younger person you once were. This doesn’t mean young people are silly, uninformed, or should be quiet, it just means most people grow into more self-assured thinking over time. It’s okay if you need some time to figure out who you are. That’s not the say you automatically figure it out in your forties, but you’re likely a little closer to doing so.
Of course, “choosing to have a good attitude to aging” might seem like a smart insight. But really, what are your options? We all get older, that’s part of the human condition. It’s not an opt-in or opt-out selection we take before you start life.
For that reason, having a good attitude, taking the good with the bad, looking for a silver lining, all of this can help us deal with the changes of life and take it in stride. You know how exercising each week can make you feel so much better than you would otherwise? Well, reassessing your relationship with aging is about not letting nasty habits or fears fester. After all, aging can be a wonderful privilege if you look at it right.
Then, as you get older, you may just thank your lucky stars for the time you were given to enjoy.
With this advice, you’ll no doubt positively reassess your relationship to aging and move forward with a spring in your step.
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