woman who is growing older posing for a picture with her daughter and daughter

Ageing with Grace: How to Accept Growing Older

2023-07-17T01:13:47+00:00

By Ev

There is this TikTok filter that shows you how you’re supposed to look when you’re aged. Three days ago, I tried it and almost cried, because that cannot be how I’ll look. There was little to no resemblance with the baby face I currently am to that. How does one even get there?It’s a totally absurd thing, because we’ll age. There’s little to nothing any of us can do about it. It will happen, so the thing is to embrace it. It’s the inevitable of life: we will age, grey hair will come, and wrinkles will take leaps on our face.This is the first step to embracing what we will eventually look like, to accept that our faces will change and our bones will weaken. Accept that our steps will become slower and agility will slowly depart from us. So, if you’re like me and you’re in your early twenties, this is step one.I will not be the first or the last person to tell you about skin care, and I know, because I’m like you, that these skin care vendors want to break our bank. But there are ways around it. There are things we must have, and things we can do without. Three of these must-haves are: a toner, moisturizer and sun screen. These are non-negotiables. This is step two.Take pictures. There will never be too many pictures. This is not so that as you age, you wish to be younger, but so that you are grateful for the dynamic nature of your body, and you’re in awe of the work your body has done for you, in health and in sickness. This is step three. Create time capsules of your life. You will appreciate it.

The fourth step is to ensure that, at all stages, in your thirties and forties, and as you progress, you are in love with yourself. That in truth you love your body, that self-hate is far from you, and genuine appreciation for yourself is the water that you drink.