“7 THINGS I like about getting older…”

This week's "7 THINGS!"

Too often we hear the moans and negative tropes when it comes to getting older (often from my mouth) but no more! I am passionate about reframing the conversation around ageing. I curse every advert and each article that tries to encourage us to spend needlessly on the many and varied cures for the ‘problem’ of ageing. How about we stop seeing it as a problem? How about we stop investing in the lotions, potions, treatments and pills that tell us we can turn the clock back and instead enjoy ageing, seeing it as the huge privilege it is and something denied to many. How about we say ENOUGH! I am getting older and there aint a darn thing I can do about it – while enjoying every second of this glorious life that surrounds us?

Here are this week’s “7 THINGS!”

1.     LESS PRESSURE! I certainly feel a lot less pressure to try and achieve perfection when it comes to my hair/face. In my youth, hours could be spent trying to tame my curls (this was a thousand years ago before we had ceramic glide hair straighteners!) it was a preoccupation that robbed me of so much time. Similarly, I would fret over my complexion, wanting to have skin like Cindy, Naomi, Christy, and Claudia. Now? I still admire beautiful, flawless women but I too can look like a super model, simply by taking off my glasses. It’s fantastic! In the mirror I am a blurry blob of perfection, and I can achieve this look in seconds.

2.     ACCEPTANCE. Not only do I now have greater acceptance and less anxiety over my physical self, but I accept all the things I might never do, never have, never see and I have made peace with it, celebrating all I do have, instead of mourning all I do not. Second, I accept flaws in myself and others. No longer do I strive for perfection in any area, instead, I accept that things are ‘good enough’ and that’s okay. It means I breathe more easily and sleep more calmly! It also makes me more tolerant (ish).

3.     PRIORITIES. Age has given me a greater perspective on life. In my teens, I thought ‘things’ might make me happy, they don’t. I now have a lot of things and would trade them all in, every single penny if it meant my son, who suffers with depression, might sleep well and feel calm. Priorities.

4.     NONE OF US GETS OUT OF HERE ALIVE! I hope I get to enjoy many more years on the planet, but that said, I understand that we are all on a timer, whereas in my youth, I felt invincible! With this awareness comes a desire to make the most of every moment, every good cup of coffee, every laugh, every dance, every sun filled morning, every glorious sunset, every swim, every delicious bite… I don’t know who said: “Every man has two lives, and the second starts when he realizes he has just one” might have been Confucius, might have been Oprah. But I think it pretty much sums this up!

5.     I KNOW STUFF! I am proud that after all my years on the planet, I have, through reading, enquiring, and learning, gained a small amount of knowledge! Not a lot, but enough. And I love that I know more about the world than I ever have, and I treasure all that my experiences have taught me. I plan on doing a lot more learning in whatever years I have left. Can you imagine? By the time I pop my clogs, I might know a lot!

6.     CONFIDENCE. I have more confidence now than I ever did. All the anxieties and doubts and second guessing that hampered my youth are much reduced. They’re not gone completely, but they are much reduced, and this means I live quite fearlessly which I heartily recommend! I’m never going to strut around Tesco in a string bikini or shout my opinion over a dinner table, but do, how can I put it… give less of a shit what people think!

7.     I KNOW HOW MY STORY UNFOLDS. And I like it. Now, I know very well that no chapter is written until it is written. I also know that life turns on a penny and you can never take anything for granted. Who knows what’s around the corner? But I do like that I know who my kids are. I know who the love of my life is, and I know that I have got to this age surrounded by the people I love and who love me in return. These all things that had the ability to paralyse my younger self with ‘what ifs’ and ‘what if nots…’ I also know that my next chapter and yours can be anything we choose to make it. And so I intend to grab what comes next and run with it, hair wild, make-up free, barefoot and dancing! Who’s with me?

My memoir “Women Like Us” is available now for pre-order. Thank you Xx