Topic : Are You Afraid to Age?

 I am a 54 yr.old lady  and am proud of it. I stay "young at heart". Age Is only a number.  I love life. I love people. I enjoy making them smile. I have gone back to college for a Diploma in Internet Specialist. It is great to be in class with all the young adults that are like "sponges absorbing everything in  sight". I also have started my writing and singing career (Gospel). It is Never too late for new things.   

 

Lynno    :-) 

 

Philippians 4:13,"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

I absolutely FEAR getting older. Just thinking about 'it' gives me anxiety (heart racing, momentary disorientation). I know is sounds completely absurd but it is how I feel to the core.  I remember the night I turned 22, I had to take deep breaths and change what I was thinking about because I could not stop the inevitable (my goal for my formative teenage years was to be 21 and  I did not think farther ahead then that).

 

Life for me is flying by at a rapid pace or it is that thus far my imprint on this world is so minimal and pathetic that I feel like my list of should have/could haves are my years multiplied by 100.

 

Yes, yes I know all of the good things .... dutiful wife, daughter and loving mother of four yadda yadda. I feel insufficient and the older I get the MORE I feel that way. No substance and I am not sure if I have enough time to change my feeling or my life.

 

The subject of looks! More then the aspect of getting older, looking older is even MORE so directly connected to my self esteem. Forget gray hair, you will never see it.  If you do..I don't want to know about it because I will be sure to have it colored asap. I am getting the glorious 11 on my forehead and the horizontal lines that are forming BECAUSE I am trying to eliminate the 'look' of the 11 mark. I see absolutely nothing appealing about wrinkles on my body...nothing!

 

My attitude may surprise some people but my feelings about my body have nothing to do with how people see me or how I view other people. I am extremely non-judgmental about anyone else. I see beauty in the smile wrinkles on eyes, laugh marks on the side of their face,  ladies with gray hair. I am truly a person who judges everyone else for 'who' they are as a person....teeth/no teeth, Gucci or Goodwill. I respect the wisdom of experience, history of the older generation.

 

I don't smoke, do drugs and am a healthy eater, green tea drinker but I  am freaking out about the age thing. I find it interesting that this is even a subject. here...maybe I can get over this..hmmm not sure.  It seems as though many are doing well but I am wondering if anyone feels like me..or more so..HAD felt like what I haee describe.

 

Thanks for all of your time...this was like 'dear diary'.

 

Thirty-six and ticking

I think I look better now too.  I am almost 44.  My worry is that my teeth are beginning to fall apart.  My teeth are actually healthy, but my gums are not.  My parents both had dentures in their forties.  That terrifies me.  I think if I have to get dentures in the next few year, I will feel much older.  Anyone out there with dentures at a young age? 

Okay, so last week, I was feeling kind of blah... So, I got online, searched websites and bought some jewelry.  It sounded good.. But, you know how that goes... until you see it, who knows?  So, today I got it in the mail and it is great stuff!  I was so impressed!  I actually read that jewelry can make you look 10 years younger and take about 10 lbs off of you.  WOW!  So, I opened this stuff up and it is simply gorgeous!  You wouldn't believe what it did for me!  My husband was way impressed too... and really happy that we had spent the money on it.  But, in reality is was very cheap.  They used precious stones, fresh water pearls and lots of other good stuff.. Anyhow, I am just beyond impressed with this place and their jewelry and thought I would share it with anyone who wanted to try something different and healthy to feel good about yourself. 

I wish more people were like you or I.  I'm 41 and love being this age and its not due to anything physical.  I love it that I'm ok w/me and that feeling came at 35.  Its funny @ work I work with lots of 20 somethings and they think they know everything about life and make major crises over stupid events in life that I would now blow off.  I would never go back to that age its too good now!

 I try to think of the positive aspects of aging:  I have many years of experience and skills in my job; my children are successfully raised;  I have a good reputation in my community; I've learned what works for me as I communicate and make my way out in the world at large.

However, I do think that how we look determines to a large extent how we are treated by others.  I've found that people smile more, talk to me longer, and generally my day goes better when my hair, clothes, and makeup look good.  I started coloring my prematurely gray hair at age 20, and now that I'm almost 50 it's just part of my regular beauty routine (and I intend to keep my long dark-brown hair until the mirror tells me it's time to cut it into short face-framing layers and color it BLONDE--but it'll never be gray:))

growing up i though 40 was old now im 52  been depressed all my life and at times wish i would go to sleep and not wake up the pain in my body is so bad  i wish they had a fountain of youth that i could swim in or a vitamin that makes u get younger and look better

You say that you "feel" old. Unless you have serious health issues, taking control of your life means taking control of your emotions and not buying into what the media is trying to sell you. Youth and beauty is not what creates a sense of happiness or balance. When you visit a hospital where patients are on their death bed, you don't go thinking when you walk on your two feet out that hospital door to the outside world and think "poor me". You think "Thank you God!" for giving me a sound mind and body...and somehow you need to think that what is your "worst" feeling day might just be someone's bliss....what would you rather have - tonnes of wrinkles and sagging or a chronic fatal disease where the last thing on your mind is "How do I look....?" but instead "Will I live another day to see the sunshine, or have my kids hug me or eat my favorite dessert? It's ok to feel down and bad some days, we're only human, but you live in a free country where opportunity is all around you, fresh water, food, resources to make your life better. Listen to your favorite song, look through old photos, go bowling, pick up a dry old leaf off the sidewalk and stare at it like you would if you were little again. Just being happy and trying to make other people that are feeling the same way you are will lift your heart - and you won't care about a "face lift" once you get a "spirit lift!" You are a beautiful person and worthy of just experiencing every day like it's a gift....so just take time to enjoy that yummy smell of popcorn while your family watches a movie together and realize....gee I don't have to worry if someone is going to bomb outside of my house - you can relax and give back to the world something special...because I belive you are more then just a person with worries, empower yourself to not buying in....THAT is free and you have access to it 24/7....from someone who thought the same until she stopped living "what if" and started living "why not?"

Hi

I can understand you feeling bad about turning 40

I am turnng 35 in a week and dreading it!

I feel totally over the hill

Help!

I can relate as I have gum problems and am not yet 40

I have nightmares about my teeth falling out