Growing Older, are you living your truth?

Wow, you look good, for your age! Black don’t crack! These are all statements that are supposed to make us feel better as we age and even though I love a good compliment as  the next girl, I often wonder why must getting older feel like the perpetual struggle to always look the way we did at 25?

Television commercials are filled with images of young smiling women, telling us about miracle creams that promise to take the years off and there I sit wondering, if that serum really worked, you’d be in diapers! ‘Miss not a wrinkle 23 year old!”

Everyone deserves to look and feel great no matter what age they are but the reality is, as we grow older, many of us cannot and do not embrace our wrinkles, scars, stretch marks and gray hair. We are taught to fight off aging like Neo facing one thousand Mr. Smiths!

Now you might say, “Come on Katyan that’s not true, many women and men are embrace aging and do so gracefully. They let their grays grow out and they walk proudly in their skin” and I’d say true but they are in the minority and although I can attest that many or us are gloriously following this trend, too many of us are not.

I have one friend that never tells her age, she’s well into her 70s and looks at least 15 years younger but refuses to proudly share that, why? Because according to her, when people hear how old you are, they begin to set limits on you. Questions like “Why would you do that? Or why would you wear that “at your age?”

Comment like “Don’t you think you’re too old for that?” Can be paralyzing, so we try to fool the world, to hide behind the forever 25, 35 or 40 last birthday moniker and not realize that no matter how much we dye, or Spanx it up, we are getting older and instead of fearing it, we should embrace it.

Think about that dream that you once put on the shelf and now, because the years have passed, you wonder, no you've decided that you can no longer pursue it. What about the goals you've set? Are you thinking that too much time has passed so you no longer have the passion to continue? Are you waiting for that right moment when the kids leave, or the right man comes along or the money is just right? What’s really holding you back besides the number that’s your age?

Growing older is a gift that many do not get (ask my dear friend who “went home” way too early at 36) and as we age, there are so many lessons that we've learned along the way that we can and should utilize.

We've hopefully learned to love ourselves more, to cherish our health, some financial freedom, our ability to make our own choices and our strength to say no to the negatives things and people in our lives. The old adage, "age brings reason," which means it makes us wiser, is absolutely freeing but in the end I know it’s not a freedom that everyone is ready to embrace.

So ladies Spanx it up as much as you like and guys buy yourself a new sports car, dye your hair or get back on the dating scene,  but don’t be ashamed of who you've become or are becoming as you walk life’s journey.

Embrace each moment, whilst looking forward to what the next stage brings. Each new day, each year older; is a blessing! A thing to be celebrated not feared!

So what about you? What are your thoughts on growing older? I would love to hear from you!