Women in America experience tremendous pressure to look beautiful, stay in shape, and look as young as science will allow. Youth and beauty permeates advertising and marketing strategies to sell cars, food, and furniture; you cannot watch a commercial without a young woman selling something. In response, many older women buy into remaking themselves through Botox injections, implants, face fillers, and other physical enhancements. We get caught on the youth train, and forget that life is constant change, and reinventing begins on the inside, and moves outward.
Aging well takes talent, the talent to relish life and its beauty. Age is truly just a number. In my mind, I am still 16 preparing for my first date with my first boyfriend and feeling butterflies in my stomach, because I am crazy about the boy who finally noticed that I am alive. Life’s emotions never leave our spirit; we are grounded in the hope of a new day, new joy, or a new love to sweep us off our feet.
Sixty-one is my sixteen, and I love the transition. Even with all the changes the body takes you through, the mind is still young and full of fervor, ready to move into the next season of life God has allowed. To feel good in your own skin also takes talent. I know that I am good enough. I feel beautiful and sexy and have no mountains to climb to prove a point to anyone. I have learned to be.
If you are single in the later part of your life, consider that you are alone not lonely. Just because you do not have a mate, does not mean life is over. It is wonderful if you find the right person to share the rest of your life, but if you don’t, that is okay too. You can spend time with you, and learn more about life through travel, and meeting new and interesting people. Better to be alone than chained to the wrong person, who diminishes your very being. I learned that lesson the hard way.
Take hold of good choices that yield great returns. Invest time and love in God, family, friends, and people. It is clear to me that life is full of promise, and we should enjoy the gift of life, because it is a gift, at any age. So be ageless, live free, and pour out your love and talents on the world; we walk the path of life once on this earth. Make it count.
Crystal King says
Wow! Just wow. That was a beautifully written piece. Janet, your radiance shines bright from the inside out. Thanks for sharing your beautiful spirit with the world!
janet435 says
Crystal, thank you for your inspiring comments; I appreciate and cherish every word.
Andrea Anderson says
Janet, thanks for sharing your sage wisdom and inspiring so many of us out there who too are aging gracefully, alone, but not lonely. Love it!
janet435 says
Andrea, thank you.