ARE YOU STILL PRETENDING TO BE A YOUNGER VERSION OF YOURSELF?

Are you pretending to be a younger version of you?

I know that’s a really loaded question! But, an important one. We live in a youth obsessed culture. We are enamored with being young, beautiful and physically fit. There’s so much more to life! I shared a few of my thoughts in a recent article on Huffington Post: Keeping Up Appearances, Who Would We Be if We Quit Talking About Aging?  I think this is an important conversation and it’s time to bring it up!

Why are we so afraid of getting old? Why are we horrified at the thought of wrinkles and a little extra adipose tissue? Why do we put our physical appearance at the top of our list in importance when we consider the things we value about ourselves? Wander into any retail store and you will see aisles of skincare products from Clinique, Mario Badescu, Hydroxatone, and others promoting wrinkle free skin. Why do we care?

I’m sure we all agree that physical health and well-being are pretty basic when it comes to enjoying life. But, given the amount of conversation we have around this topic, I can’t help but think there’s something more motivating this interest. What might that “something more” be?

Perhaps it’s a fear of death, or a fear of losing our power in our relationships with our significant other, or a fear of losing relevancy if we are no longer young and attractive. I’m sure the reason is different for everyone, but the common result is the same. We too often live in fear of aging. Let’s figure out why and put it behind us so we can get on with life!