Age - Just A State Of Mind?

Celebrate being a senior visit www.redhatsociety.com.

 

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Growing old is one thing that we can't change - it's as simple as that. You can try to slow the process down with exercise and healthy eating. But while this will help us remain fit and healthy it won't make us any younger.

We may begin to feel we are invisible to a society which appears to be obsessed with youth culture. Whether male or female we are surrounded by images of models and celebrities who are young, beautiful and sexy. And even older celebrities held up to epitomise that we all can still be "young and beautiful" - with a little help from a plastic surgeon of course - can make us feel even more inadequate.

Some of us with cash to spare may consider turning the hand of time back with surgery too. Botox, facelifts, tummy tucks and chemical peels can all be done within a 50 mile radius of Angus. But in the end we are the age we are and we can't change that.

The word 'old' itself can conjure up so many negative images - walking sticks, false teeth, frail health, Zimmer frames. While this might be the case for some of our generation, a more accurate reflection for the majority of people in retirement has been the beginning of anything but a sedentary life. Foreign holidays, minding the grand kids, gardening plus a whole host of other challenging leisure and intellectual pursuits. Unfortunately society and much of the media does not seem to have woken up to this yet.

This is totally at odds with the stories we see regularly in our daily newspapers telling us about changing demographics. The largest percentage of our population will soon consist of older people who are all living longer and healthier than ever before. Is this not a thing to celebrate and a time to get rid of the negative images of ageing? Of course we need to care for our frail elderly but that is only one aspect of the ageing process and not the whole picture.

No matter what the stereotypes are for our age and the prevalence of ageism in our society, there are no hard and fast rules about how we should behave or what we should wear as we get older. But thinking positively about ourselves can make a huge difference to how we lead our lives and our health and wellbeing.

We may be 'old' in terms of years, but we are also wiser, more mature and have been there, seen it and done it all. We know the value of laughter and fun and -although there are times when the changes in society momentarily force us to become 'Grumpy Old Men and Women' - we should still be able to express our personalities in our dress and our behaviour.

Appearance should continue to be important to us no matter what age we are. If you've got great legs show then off; if you want to wear tartan with pink tights and a purple hat (and that's only the men) then why not!

And as for growing old gracefully why not take a leaf out of the Red Hat Society's book:

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go
And doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy
And summer gloves.
And satin sandals
And say we've no money for butter

 

 

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