Age is Just a Number!

“I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel.”- Elizabeth Arden

For those of you who know me, I’m sure you are aware that–for me–age truly is just a number!  By the time I turn 30, 40, or even 50 you know that I’ll state my age loud and clear, there’s no need to hide behind fake birthdates and botox injections.  

So, why am I even bringing up the most sensitive women’s issue?  Well, it’s pretty simple.  One of my closest girlfriends turned 25 in August, and already she’s finding it hard to deal with the number.  Mind you, she’s beautiful, smart, kind, generous, talented, and successful…not to mention, she looks like she’s 19 years old, yes, I’m serious!  Growing up, I witnessed how the women in my family–as well as their friends–constantly lied about their age, and in some cases, it was plain ridiculous!  For starters, if you’re 50 years old, most likely you don’t look like you’re 25 anymore, so there’s no point in lying about it.

As children, my girlfriends and I loved hearing that–with the right makeup, extremely high heels and “fabulous” outfits, that weren’t really that fabulous to begin with–we looked 16 when we were only 14.  But, as the days went by and we hit our 20s, I noticed a change; those same girls started loving the opposite…whenever someone told them that they looked 19 when in fact they were 24 years old, they giggled and blushed like little kids.  

So what is it with women and age?  Men don’t seem to care that they’re getting older (well, at least most men don’t), so why should we?  As long as we look good and haven’t wasted our years doing absolutely nothing, what’s the big deal with getting older?  A common response I get in relation to the latter statement is “you’re still so young, when you get older you’ll understand why we care so much.”  Well, my response is simple, “no I won’t”!  Why?  Because all around me, it has already started, and I still don’t care!  The only time someone’s statement echoed mine was three years ago when a close friend’s mother turned 50.  First, we were shocked, because she looked absolutely stunning for her age, secondly we were dumbstruck at the fact that when we asked her how old she was, she proudly said “fifty.”  Then she added, “what’s the problem with getting older?  As long as I’ve used those years wisely, why should I be ashamed of them”?  Generally speaking, when we think of a “wise person,” we link him or her to age, don’t we?  I’m not saying that the latter is necessarily correct; the Buddha himself wasn’t that old when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, but yet, we seem to make that link. So why can’t we think of age in terms of wisdom instead of ugliness or negativity in general.  I know some “older” women who are simply beautiful; the ones who do take care of their health and beauty but without obsessing about facelifts, tummy tucks…and the whole shebang!  The ones who are comfortable with their age and act accordingly.  Most importantly, the ones who are young at heart, and as the saying goes “you are as young as you feel,” which I truly believe in. 

I honestly believe that the reason us girls and women dwell so much on the issue of age is because ages ago (I’m not quite sure when this age mania started), someone somewhere claimed that aging gracefully–for women–is a bad thing and that the older the woman the worse.  The same did not happen with men, which is why they mostly don’t care!  So, think about it for a minute, if the society you’re living in didn’t stress so much on the idea that the younger you are the better, would you really have cared so much about your age?