Of course, I am old, according to my children, but I remember thinking that my parents were old when they were 40.
Now, 40 is the new 25, right? Most 40 year olds don’t look 40. I don’t think I do, but when I asked my daughter she said I did. Pffffftttt!
Science has brought us a long way in the last 30 years. We’re all trying to stave off aging by eating healthier, taking 2 handfuls of supplements every day, smearing ourselves with gallons of youthful potions, and pounding along on the treadmill until our teeth clatter out of our heads.
I’m not arguing the merits of healthy living, after all, I have enough lettuce, carrots, and other veggies in my fridge to feed an army of bunnies for several weeks. What I do wonder about is why we are all so desperate to NOT get older. We’ve all heard it, with age comes wisdom. In many cultures, the elderly are revered. In our culture it is more important to not get old and to have everything bonded, nipped and tucked. It won’t be long before most of our society is walking around looking 30 on the outside, but with the insides of a 70 year old.
I see lots of 80’s nostalgia things these days, and, admittedly, I had a good time in the 80’s, but I also had really bad hair-do’s. Is it a longing to be the teens we once were? The ones who were on the cusp of a changing world? We saw the Cold War end and watched the walls of communism fall, and had hopes that the world our children would live in would be a better one. It’s not, and, unfortunately, no amount of botox can change that.
I prefer not to return to the days of my youth. I know so much more now than I did back then, and all the mistakes I have made have served me well in one way or another– even though they seemed devastating at the time. So, we should all keep eating our veggies, and contorting ourselves into impossible positions during yoga class, but we should also remember that 40 isn’t necessarily so much older, as it is wiser.
Nothing Is Sacred 