Time is a fascinating concept. People use it to different advantages, to mark moments in life, as a scale of time gone by, spent, or remaining. It’s part of our everyday existence and yet the single most frustrating concept we have.
Yes for literal meaning, there is a sun rise and a sun set. Days turn into weeks, those into years, decades, centuries and so on till we no longer exist to keep records.
And as time goes by we mark our age. I find this interesting as I never really think about age, nor my birthday. Being an only child, and one who had no other contemporaries, birthdays were not that big of a deal, except to my mother. To her my birthday was the highlight of the year, the single most important day of her life.
For that I say ‘Thank you Mom’.
Her excitement for my birthday was the only thing that made it even mildly interesting.
To me it was another day, another year to look at what I did not accomplish. To feel like a failure in everything I wanted out of life.
To this day, I still struggle with my birthday, choosing to completely forget it, because it just makes me feel sad and alone, especially now.
I think every adult goes through this. We all feel some karmic pressure to have accomplished some laundry list of things by this age or that.
So I decided I gave up the concept of age. Choosing to act how I felt and not allow some number to dictate my time wasted or what remained.
Which brings me to an interesting point of this story. When I gave up age as a concept something interesting happened.
Not only was I happier, I stopped looking old.
I’ve been a long proponent of taking care of myself, so I have always taken care of my skin. But I literally stopped this progression of visually aging cold.
I’ve had no surgery, no treatments, just me and my everyday simple skincare. But whenever I have to disclose my age, people just look at me weird.
Like I know some secret.
Maybe I do.
Perhaps the secret is to just stop caring about it.
So I find myself in social circles with people younger than me. I tend to date men younger than me, and I find that absolutely wonderful. I am focused on being around people with a love for life, an attitude of optimism, a true belief in their ability to conquer the world.
I love it. Every bit. Not a single one has any idea I am older than they are. Or at least if they do they are polite not to call me out on it. I think they honestly think I am a couple years older.
They have no idea.
We talk the same language, love the same things, laugh at the same jokes, so why on earth should my age or theirs matter.
So I say forget about this concept of age, forget about this imaginary yardstick we use to measure our lives.
Because none of us knows how long we will be here, so live every moment to its absolute fullest regardless of age.
I have known Octogenarians who were kids and Twenty-somethings so old and bitter they rival any nursing home resident.
Somewhere there is a portrait of me, growing old….
I say thank you to that painting, because you are giving me the best gift I could ever ask for…..
The ability to live life and enjoy it to its absolute fullest without the pressures or stigmas that come with some number.