Age-in-the-mind.

Today, I start a new blog. For me, this is the nearest I will get to publishing!
What will this blog be about? Well, the name tells all. Everything and anything. Pet peeves and passions and everything in between.
Let me introduce myself. I am a female in my 40s (that means I am between 40 and 49.9 years old!) I have 2 adorable kids (now, how many mothers do not think their kids are adorable? Even the mothers of the screaming, tantrum throwing little monster doing his or her thing in the supermarket) and a great husband (I HAVE to say he's great, yes? After all, if he's not great, what would that say about my taste, huh?) and a life that most people envy. No, I am NOT rich, but I AM wealthy - beautiful and abundant assets of peace, joy, contentment, a life blessed by God and a family that makes me believe that I must have done something wonderful at some point in my existence to have them.
I say I am in my 40s but, truth be told, I feel 25 - actually, mentally, I am stuck at 25. Why 25? I'm yet to understand why! So, imagine the shock I get every time I look in the mirror and I see my twins are more south than north; my butt is not as high and rounded as I believed it to be; those dimples in the skin are NOT dimples but cellulite and fat, and the arms that, no matter how many repetitions of "clean & jerk" weight lifts I do, will never again be the toned arms of my 25 year-old, LONG GONE self!
Seriously, how many of us think of ourselves as the age that we actually are? It is that "age-in-our-mind" that subconsciously dictates our behaviour. Otherwise, how do you explain the middle aged man in too tight clothes and a hat at the night club whose idea of "boogeying" is a continuous belly roll? He thinks he is moving his waist in the undulating manner he was capable of in his supple youth. Or the lady, who is well past her prime and should not wear anything that will expose the dimpled and veined legs that age and excess weight have bestowed upon her, that appears at a function in a mini dress, tottering on ridiculously high heels? An ensemble that will look stunning or cute on anyone half her age.
So, though I got stuck at 25, I have tried NOT to act 25. There is a lot to be said for being older AND wiser. My feeling 25 does not translate into being a fashion victim caught in a time warp; it translates into youthfulness of thought, innovation of problem solving (youth + wisdom? A rare and refreshingly wonderful combination) and an ability to bridge the generation gap.
So, embrace the young you but do not let it dictate your wardrobe!!!

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