AGE. It's JUST a number. Or, isn't it?

I like to think of myself the way the French describe it, “une femme d'un certain age.”

So, I never tell people my age, and most people are too polite to ask. If they were to do so, I wouldn’t tell them anyway, unless we were in an intimate relationship...and then...the only reason I’d share it is because I wouldn’t want the person to think I was only 16!

Many of my long-time friends know my exact age because when we met so many, many years ago, who CARED about stating how old you were then?

Time does change everything.

As I approached my 30th year, I was still excited about getting older...then 35. Now.
Today...I simply am “une femme d'un certain age.” All the pride about growing older seems to have gone out the window.

Why do we do this?

Age, like anything else, is just a number. At least, it should be.

But most of us, including me, get caught up in the perceptions of others when they hear our age.

In some cases, it’s sensible not to state your age before people meet you. Like in some work places, for example, where people would think you’re an “old fart,” because you're at a certain number. Or maybe if you’re trying to date a much younger guy or woman, and you also look much younger than you are...those are all valid reasons...I guess.

The truth to me about age is that it does not matter, about the numbers. It’s your attitude, style and behavior that count.

I’ve met some people in their late teens, 20s and early 30s, who go around as if they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. They are bogged down with worry. You see it in their faces...you see it in their style. They move slowly because they think and feel old. Life is wearing them out. The reverse is true for some older people. They move with a light touch.

I’ve always walked fast all of my life. I still do. My age has not, and never will, slow me down.

With that brisk walking, people really can’t tell my age. They have to do “research” on me, and if they are that curious, and it’s THAT important to them... I say,
"Well... Go Right Ahead!” Your business is NOT my business. Even your business...about ME!

Age doesn’t...and shouldn’t...say anything about you...unless you want it to be so.
The reason that age does become a factor for many people is that they buy into the belief that if they are a certain age, they have to do and be a certain thing and act a certain way.

Yes, I do believe in appropriate behavior, especially when you SHOULD know better. One of the true benefits of aging should be the wisdom that it brings. Getting old, unfortunately, though, doesn’t mean that everyone gets wise.

I’ve met some people much older than I, who are so “unwise” in their thinking...their talking...and their “being” that I want to move away from them as far as my feet would carry me. Then, there are those older people who are locked up in the past...with either regrets or good memories...still feeding and living off those memories. Some are very bitter folks, others are happily oblivious to the day they are in because they are so busy living in yesterday. Then, there are those very old people who just bring JOY!

I’d like to think that whether you’re 25 or 55 or older, you still are getting up each day and seeing the freshness that it brings...the promises that it holds...the hope of joy that it carries as the darkness of dawn gives way to the light of day.

Regardless of your age, I hope you’re able to see the beauty of each day and its uniqueness. I’m hoping that your age does not prevent you from doing something fresh, each day. I’m hoping that each moment of every day, you’re living ONLY IN THAT MOMENT...seeing the beauty of the NOW, as Eckhart Tolle urges us to do in his book, “The Power of Now.” I’m hoping, most especially, that you’re not worrying about later today or tomorrow...and certainly NOT about what happened yesterday or last year, or 10 years ago.

My greatest wish for you, today, my friend, is that despite, or because of, your age, you are truly living in the moment and seeing the freshness that it brings.

Remember, also, that what is inside of you...your SPIRIT...is ageless! It doesn’t care how old you may look on the outside...it’s how you connect to “it” that matters. Then...it'll also keep you looking...so much less than your "age." You will be "Forever Young!"

Namaste’,

Che’