Friday 13 October 2017

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number


The significant birthday has been and gone. A number of people have asked me how I feel about turning forty. It doesn’t feel the big deal I thought it might. I realise I’m in the position of having both friends and family that will be thinking ‘Forty! That’s old.’ and others who will be thinking the opposite. I guess any new decade of age feels significant to the one entering it. The first two decades of life are met with excitement and then it seems, especially in our culture, any of the following decades are to be feared. I guess it is all tied up with regrets or what a person feels they should have done by the time they hit that particular decade, but there are all sorts of signs that getting older has its benefits.

I read in the paper today that People’s most beautiful woman in the world, this year is Julia Roberts (aged 49, if you’re wondering). Sadly, probably many would respond by saying that she doesn’t look her age – the greatest compliment someone older can receive right? We’re so obsessed with aesthetics and looking young, it is no wonder people try to slow down the aging process.  

Aging well is a matter of attitude. I have the privilege of knowing a number of individuals who are over seventy and have never-ending energy for the activities they passionate about. It was an honour to stand with a couple of them recently to support their vision of connecting with our local community. It is always a mistake to put people in boxes and age is no different. We colour our own experience and perception of others when we believe the lies of the media or assume one teenager or retiree is the same as another.

 
I noticed, when watching Bake Off this week, that those who were more vocal about the discomfort of the heat and the difficulty of making Italian sfogliatelle had the worst outcomes. We can talk and think ourselves into failure, unhappiness and fear, so the opposite is also true. Attitudes to growing old can be changed. It starts with my attitude and what I choose to believe. I want to check my thoughts and beliefs by making sure I’m part of activities and groups that encompass different ages, so that my beliefs are fuelled by real experiences rather than media stereotypes.


I have done a little reflecting on my last decade. I don’t think I would have believed that I would be where I am right now, if someone had told me when I turned thirty. A friend of mine had encouraged me to write a ‘dream page’ of goals to achieve – both short and long term. I found one I had written about eight years ago. I was amazed how many of the goals had come to pass. Some, I could remember thinking at the time seemed impossible, yet they have been fulfilled. For me, that makes the next decade exciting. I have no idea what might happen in the next ten years. There is a sense of a new beginning and I want to look forward. I have taken down my creative wall that I pinned up during the transition from teaching to writing. I am considering what I will be giving my time to, what will be my new short and long term goals. I shall be writing a new dream page. The trick with these is not to let your ‘inner editor’ have their say. It is ‘blue sky thinking’ – you are not meant to consider potential obstacles but to allow yourself to dream.


 

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