I dont feel fifty. I dont think I look fifty. I certainly dont behave like a fifty year old. But the plain fact of the matter is that half a century has indeed passed since I first put in an appearance on the planet. And Im getting old.
Ive been thinking about ageing quite a bit recently. Partly because I now have parents who are in their late seventies and eighties and they are suddenly starting to show signs of decline. My Mum has had years of joint and bone problems which have meant that she has been slow and creaky for quite a while. But my Dad has always been super fit and very active. In the past fifty years I can never remember him being ill and he most certainly has never broken a bone or had an operation or even been on any medication. So when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer just after Christmas it was a bit of a shock. To me my Dad hasnt changed at all in the past thirty or forty years - he hasnt lost any
We live in an era where being old seems to be somehow unacceptable. In the UK in 2015 some research was undertaken
The research, by beauty website Escentual.com, found customers age 45-54 are now spending £2,238-a-year on beauty products; up 4.1 percent on previous years.
The 55-64 age group spend £2,190.45-a-year, a rise of 4.9 percent and the biggest growth area in the UK.
Apparently older women are now spending like crazy on anti ageing products, wrinkle creams, hair dyes, fillers and the like - in an attempt to push back the tidal wave of sagging and bagging and look like thirty year olds for as long as possible. I think perhaps some people do actually believe that photos like the one above are real and that if you spend enough money you can achieve miracles !! Its not a bad thing to look after yourself - but spending £2,000 a year on my skin isnt going to stop those wrinkles from happening eventually. I can't photoshop my skin in real life 😀 So perhaps Id better embrace them
But it's hard. I am someone who has never really cared a fig for what anyone else thinks of me. I spend precisely five minutes in the morning getting ready, Ive never had my eyebrows plucked or my hands manicured and I spend about £2 a year on cosmetics. But even I find it quite hard to look in the mirror and see another line appear. Why is that?? What is it about getting old - and looking old - that I find hard to accept?
It is probably that I listen to the voices of the world rather than the word of God. Who has these things to say about being old.
A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness.
Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
"Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.
They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green,
Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigour abated.
I love that last one!! No walking frame and goggle specs for Moses. He was going for it right to the end. Wrinkles or no wrinkles. It would appear that what we should be aiming for is not smooth skin and perfect teeth, but wisdom, fruit, righteousness, energy and strength. That's the sort of old age I could handle.
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