As some of you know, I had a birthday last week. And it was a good day. And I’m thankful for all of your wonderful well-wishes here, and elsewhere. They meant, and mean, a great deal.
And now I am thinking about age. Chronological age, yes. But also about the age we feel. I love the quote above, from Satchel Paige. Isn’t this an interesting question to think about? How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you actually are?
And I’m not sure how I’d answer this question – which is probably what makes it so good. On some days, I feel like a girl, full of energy and imagination and youthful spunk. On other days, I feel exhausted and edgy and, well, old. I am beginning to think this is life; oscillating between up and down, rainbow and gray, youth and age.
I can’t change that the years are piling up, but I know I can do things – and vow to do those things – that will help me stay as young and healthy as possible for that little girl in the fabulous fringe boots above and for her big sisters, for her daddy, and for myself.
How old are you? How old do you feel? Do you believe that there are things we can do to stay youthful and healthy despite our increasing chronological age? How often do you think about your age or getting older? How often do you think about doing what you can to stick around as long as possible for your kids and other loved ones?
I feel younger than I am most of the time. I don’t have kids yet, but hope to soon. And I hope that I continue to take care of myself so that when kids do (hopefully) come, I will be energetic and healthy for them and for me.
Love the picture of your little girl.
I hope you are my Jill because I cannot wait to hear you are pregnant. MOM
My friend’s and I talk about this often. We have (almost) alll turned 50 and I just turned 51. Most often I feel late 30′s-early 40s…in my head. The 40s were awesome. Your mind is wiser with more experience under your belt, your body still does everything you want it to do (so long as you’re treating it right), you have a bit mre freedom with kids being older and money is generally not an issue. You feel as if you have the world by it’s tail and you’re swinging it around. it’s a really fun, fun time.
Being new to 50s, I’m still finding my place with kids off and way too much time on my hands. Still “feel” the same in my brain, the mirror has changed a little. Moisturizer is key AND sunscreen. Oh, and workout five days a week.
I’m 42, but most of the time I feel like I’m in my early-mid 30s. I’m fortunate that I look younger than I am, or so I’ve been told. I give much of the credit for that to Miss Clairol.
That said, though, my son attended his first homecoming dance on Saturday, which made me feel much more my real age!
I think everyone (including myself) is between 25 – 30. It’s so funny when I “remember” that I’m 36! I am determined that age is just a number though…..
What I think is hard to think about is my parents growing in number. I think I still look at them like the young parents I forever vision in my head…and it makes me sad sometimes to do a double take and realize they are in fact getting a little older, not able to do the things I just assume they can do. But my parents have always acted younger than their age, staying very involved in our lives and I find that to be a true blessing.
Btw- that picture is absolutely adorable! Little girl looks so big!
Like AG above, I become much more aware of age and the passing of time when looking at my parents and grandparents. I assume they’re still the “youthful” couples they once were; I perpetually picture my parents in their 30s, like they were when I was young. But, alas… time marches on.
I’m 27, and most days I do feel 27… but sometimes I feel 10, or 16, or 40. It terrifies me to think I’ll be 30 in three years, thirty and marching on to the next phase of my life. I feel like I’m on the cusp of so many things… the cusp of marriage, of parenthood, or adulthood. Sometimes I don’t feel very adult-like at all. Other times I feel elderly, worn down. It is that way with all of us, I’d imagine.
Remember when you wanted to look older so you wouldn’t get carded at a club? Then about a month after they stopped carding you the botox paranoia set in.
My mother always said thet if you lie about your age you should make yourself older so that people will tell you that you look good.
Most days I feel 18. I have as much energy as a high school student. My soup kitchen volunteers always guess my age as 15 to 20 years older than I am so I guess I’d start saving for a cosmetic overhaul.
If you ask my kids they’ll tell you I am almost 43.5. Those halves are important to the little ones, but now they are just another day.
Last week I posted a picture of myself from the ’80s and got a good laugh from what I saw.
Well, let me rephrase that. The way I look in the photo is exactly the way I look in my mind. I am 20 years-old and that is how I picture myself.
And then I look in the mirror and see elements that resemble that kid, but I am clearly not him anymore.
But I can still do almost everything I did then, with the exception of play basketball 5 days a week. If I do that I pay for it, but I can still go 3 days a week without a problem.
And I can run with the twenty somethings which makes me laugh because they think I am old. It is a long winded way of saying I am young at heart, spirit and physically am not anywhere close to middle aged.
I’m 26 years old, and agree with you Aidan, on some days I feel young and other days I feel old. Yes, I do believe there measures we can take like diet and exercise, but even with that everyone is going to get old, it’s only natural. Overall, I see getting old and gray as a blessing. I have a question for you now, would you consider dying your hair every month or go grey? Just curious.
I always felt younger than my age. But, now that I’m in my late 30s, I’m definitely feeling my age. If I think about what has changed to make me feel a bit older than I used to feel … I honestly think it has to do with weight. When I was super fit, I was able to do anything. Now that I’m a few pounds over where I probably should be, working out isn’t as easy as it used to be and I don’t feel as great as I used to feel. I want/need to get back to that place and yet, it’s just so hard to get there.