Ageless!

Nowadays everybody wants to grow younger day by day. Ridiculous! Such desire defies both logic and the human experience.

Each day we’re one step further away from our date of birth. Following that chronologically, after 365 days, we’re celebrating another birthday and we’re older by one more year. We cannot stop the process of aging; it is the law of nature that no one and nothing lasts forever.

But suppose we could slow down or even reverse the part of aging that results in aching joints, wrinkled face, thinning hair and failing vision. Did we ever think that it might be possible to step on the brakes of the aging process and feel young no matter our age? Hmmm…

If you’ve done some gardening, you know that plants can be revitalized by altering the growing conditions or making other growth enhancing changes. Good gardeners know, for example, that they can turn a woody old bush that produces few flowers into a vigorously growing plant. How?

By cutting away the old, dead wood and allowing new branches to spring up from the old roots. An ageing fruit tree that gives only a few small fruits every season can be brought back to its prime state with pruning, fertilizing and watering. With air, light, excellent nutrition, clean water and a nurturing environment, plants respond with vigorous new growth and plenty of flowers or fruit.

The same principle that works in plants also works in people. Given the proper care and nourishment, we, too, prosper and grow. While we can’t really grow younger in years, we can in other ways.

Let’s consider what youth is. It’s marked by physical strength and agility and flexibility. There is, normally, little or no illness. Youth is almost synonymous with high energy, and often with physical grace.

Now, suppose we followed a physical exercise program that built our strength, flexibility and stamina. Suppose we’ve been successfully maintaining our health, protecting ourselves from illness. Suppose, because of our excellent physical condition, we move about dynamically and gracefully.

Suppose we’ve been very careful about our skin, our use of cosmetics, our hairstyle, our clothing, and we are adaptive to new fashion and social trends. And we’re 60 years old! Then, by the functional definition of youth, we are young.

We can be young in a genuine, practical and aesthetic sense – no matter if we’re way past the prime of our life. We can maintain the energy and strength to do what we want and to go where we please, with ease. With heightened attention we give to ourselves, we can be healthier and more attractive. We need not suffer from the many burdens and complaints commonly associated with aging.

The natural loosening of the skin that comes with the years can be mostly prevented with regular exercise and proper skin care. Bulging stomachs and ugly cellulite lumps can be vanished with physical activity and proper diet. Proper diet is very important – knowing which foods to eat more of, which to cut down on, and which to omit altogether.

For exercise, even simple walking when done regularly can do a lot of good. It is possible to stay in top shape, with self-discipline. It is also easy nowadays to have shining, thick hair and white, even teeth. Technological cosmetic solutions are now widely available.

But, there’s more to being young than simply having youthful physical attributes. Young people have eager, inquisitive minds. They’re naturally curious, always seeking more knowledge. With minds as flexible as their young bodies, they’re always willing to try something new. They laugh and enjoy themselves, they play and have fun. Young people are brave at heart. They develop deep friendships, look for love, and keep themselves wide open for emotional experiences.

It is important, therefore, to have a youthful spirit—the qualities, attributes, and attitudes—to complement with a youthful body. The cynicism and general disinterest that often come with age must be resisted or cast off. Moreover, a proper handling of stressful emotions mixed with a voracious appetite for life can preclude the ravages of time.

A fashionable hairstyle at the top of our head, to clear and sparkling eyes, to pearl-white teeth, to well- tucked belly, to well-groomed tips of our toes – these are all within reach even to people of age. Coupled with a youthful attitude, anyone will have found the fabled fountain of youth. It only takes maintaining our physical, emotional and spiritual health to be ageless.