I'm Getting Old

I'm getting old.  It's a fact.  We all are.  Some handle this better than others.  Some enjoy and even relish getting old while others fear it, loath it and spend lots of time worrying about it.

Cher and Tina Turner were asked by Oprah what they thought about getting old.  Tina said she loved it.  Cher said she can't stand it.  I'd like to say I'm with Tina... However I lean towards Cher on this one.  Getting older is scary, losing all that youthful vitality and having to work (dam hard) at trying to stay fit is tiresome - where as once upon a time it was a breeze.  Yet I'm also fascinated by getting older and the changes that take place.  Not all of them are bad.

Marilyn Monroe was another person concerned about ageing.  In a documentary on Marilyn narrated by a close friend, she was quoted as saying she disliked getting older and was worried she was losing her youthful beauty, gaining weight (below) and losing her gorgeous slim youthful figure (above).  We love the full figured Marilyn Monroe, to us she is a curvacious beauty.  Something many non-skinny-mini women aspire to.  However, regardless of the below quote about not wanting to be bone thin, gaining weight and looking older plagued Marilyn during the last years of her life.  In fact she was outright depressed by it.

Anyone who has children or spends time with children can see they have practically perfect skin.  Tiny pores, blemish free, beautiful soft skin.  During our teens this changes, we start getting blemishes or dry skin patches.  Our skin begins to go through changes as we take after our parents skin type.  As we get older our pores are no longer tiny, they grow and stretch with age.  In adult hood many of us start to feel tired majority of the time and worry we look as tired as we feel.  Our youthful energy goes out the window along with all that vibrancy as well.  Our bodies start to give way, we have aches and pains, maybe our hips hurt or our gait is off, maybe our spines are no longer straight or we suffer from migraines.  Signs of cellulite appear and gather momentum as we age.  Between 75% and 90% of women develop stretch marks to some degree.  Arthritis will also be an issue for some.  Soft peach fuzz appears on our cheeks near our ears, perhaps we develop mustaches to some degree as well.  Things are starting to sag.  Creases are starting to not bounce back the way they once did, and they're apparent even when we're not pulling any facial expressions.

I don't know what the future holds though I'm certain it's more laughter lines and, sadly, less energy.  I like to look at this quote (above) to remind myself that getting older is a blessing.  One good thing about getting older is we become less worried about what people think and more content to be us (where as in our teens we are awkward and think the whole world is judging us and their judgment isn't favorable).  We become more at ease with who we are as people as we age, what we're good at, what our strengths are.  We understand we have faults however they no longer define us.  Many of us will still worry about our looks and while I personally am not fond of getting old, I am however blessed to be alive.

Are you like Tina or Cher?  Does ageing bother you or do you take it in your stride.  Has your skin care regime changed over the years?  Share your story with us.

ALSO: click HERE to see a video on how to apply your 'war paint' and get ready in under 6mins.