The Art of Aging

On the way back from my recent trip to Sri Lanka, a group of women went to a shopping mall to look for things which could make them look younger and beautiful. The monk asked me whether I will be like them, trying to refine their skin to look younger. I asked myself ‘do  I really looking that old?’. I quickly found a mirror in the shop and put my face against the mirror. Hmm… I do have few wrinkles and my skin might be dehydrated from 3 weeks under a strong sun. But so what? I quickly put on a smile. The reflection in the mirror tells me this old woman looks not bad at all. Why can’t I accept being old? Why do I have to spend money to make me look younger than my age? What is wrong being old?

When I arrived home, my eldest sister who can be my mum by age said: “Gee! You are getting old. You have to use facial products so you have fewer wrinkles.” Sigh! My own sister now tells me that I look old. I spotted a Nutrimatics booklet on the table which has a title “Make skin act up to 10 years younger within 24 hours”. Now I am in a dilemma whether I should or I should not pay $79 for this magic cream. I laugh out loud. How tempting! I won’t let this trick me.

Few years ago my brother in law was in his midlife crisis. I couldn’t comprehend his sadness.  Now I understand his fear of being old, being unwanted, being unattractive and being useless eventually. I introduced him to do a Vipassana course and he came out with no attachment to this aging problem. My hubby is now going through this stage. He madly wants to match with his son’s standard in clothes. He is yearning to have assurance that he is still attractive. When he was young, he would hardly spend time in front of a mirror looking at himself but now he is doing this quite often. Luckily he is now into his new hobbies that divert his attention.

Generally I am a happy person. I am happy with what I have and want nothing more. I have many hobbies such as gardening, meditating, writing, reading, day dreaming on a couch, walking, traveling, volunteering and drinking my cup of tea. I watch my health closely. I accept being old is part of the deal in having this body. This is a normal process that everyone has to go through unless you die young. So being old is nothing to be ashamed of! I love my old look. I am proud of being old. That means I have lived my life. I might look old but my inner self is just only 16. Hehehe.

To sum it up, the secret of getting old gracefully is to believe in yourself. You need to be happy with what you have. This includes with your old body, your old look and feel.

While typing this article, my hubby came to show me his photo and said: “How come I look so old?” I laugh and reassured him he is looking fine.