This week, I celebrated another birthday. Everywhere around me, I hear people complaining about getting old. And I’m older than them… But on the other hand, I also have friends who are happy that they can celebrate another birthday because they are sick and always wondering if this one will be the last one. I have decided that I will appreciate growing older because this is actually a privilege.
Growing Old And Feeling Old Is Not The Same Thing
Don’t make me say what I didn’t say: I don’t particularly appreciate feeling old. But, to me, feeling old and growing old are two different things.
A Generation Who Is Constantly Hurting
Nowadays, a lot of my friends (me included) feel constantly tired and have at least one part of their body that hurts. But that wasn’t the case for my parents when they were my age, so I think that it has more to do with the way we live and work than with our age.
We don’t move as much as our parents, we spend a lot of (professional and personal) time looking at a screen with our back slightly bent. We have a thousand things to think of and we are stressed by the fear of missing out on something (FOMO). Our surroundings constantly try to attract our attention and our phone sends us notifications every minute. It’s difficult to shut our brain down and to breathe normally. We take shorter and faster breaths than our ancestors. We have insomnia. For all those reasons, our bodies ache.
Is Age Really Just A Number?
Have you ever gone to a gym class with older people? I have, and usually, I feel ashamed at my level compared to theirs.
My point is that age can be just a number and we need to take care of ourselves and stop blaming it on yet another birthday. Sure, at some point, you really feel old because you’re old, but not at 30 or 40 years old.
Every New Year, I Feel Like I’m Getting To Know Myself Better
Growing Old And Accepting Myself
Some people wish that they could go back to their twenties. Well, I sure wouldn’t! I have learnt so much and taught myself so much in those years. Every year, I accept myself a little more with all my flaws. Learning about it doesn’t only mean I accept who I am, it also helps me understand why I feel what I feel and how I could do better.
Understanding Others
Growing old also helps understand other people better. Even though I do sometimes, I try not judging them as soon as I meet them. We all have a past and reasons to react the way we do.
Anyway, happy birthday to me!
To read more thoughts, you can visit the page Thoughts.
