When I was a child, I loved to walk with my mother because
she was the embodiment of what a wonderful mother should be – nurturing,
encouraging and supportive. But most of all I felt proud because she looked
young for her age and friends and strangers would always admire her and the
secret to her youthful countenance was well kept. She would sometimes fear the
day when she would look very old and she told me she intended to hide away in a
small town so that people would always
remember her as the one who had consumed the elixir of youth.
Wrinkles and sagging skin are not welcomed friends but like
it or not, they are here to stay. Since the beginning of time the race against
ageing and the effects of gravity on the body seem to preoccupy the human
brain. This has resulted in the widespread use of miracle creams, botox, quick-fix formulas and
cosmetic surgery when we are no longer comfortable in our own skin.
I overheard a man who had just turned 40 lamenting that the
end of his youth had arrived and I wondered how he would react when he turned
50. The last time I was in Kuala Lumpur
Having lived in the Irish countryside for a while now I find
that the demographic profile is certainly very different. We have young
parents, school children and a huge matured crowd of people within the age
range of 40 – 99. The interesting thing is that there is a plethora of activities and clubs that cater for the more
matured crowd. There are singing, acting, voice training and painting classes.
There are clubs for trekking, knitting, sewing, cooking and reading. Then there
are ladies clubs that organise movie trips and outings while the men go
fishing.
As women have the tendency to outlive men, I see elderly
ladies hobbling along to supermarkets and to parks all very independently with
minds as sound as a bell. Every time I talk to them I am amazed at their memory
power and their keenness for details! The men who have retired offer their
services in the DIY department for a fee. So it is not surprising to see a
former fireman turn chimney sweep and a former manager turn electrician.
So why are we upset about the ageing process when it happens
the moment we are born?
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One of the first instances when we realise that we have
crossed over to the more senior side is when others start calling us uncle or
aunty or mak cik or pak cik. It is when our nieces and
nephews have shot up and we seem to have shrunk in comparison.
Sure, it is a nuisance to have to constantly touch up the
annoying grey hair roots. It is unpleasant to have diminished eyesight, aches
and pains and temporary amnesia which we
call ‘senior moments’. It is embarrassing to not being able to find the things
that you could have sworn you did keep them safely away. It’s all a bit sad,
isn’t it?
Hilary Clinton in dealing with ageing says, ‘ I feel so relieved to be at the stage I’m at in my life
right now. Because you know if I want to wear my glasses I’m wearing my
glasses. If I want to wear my hair back I’m pulling my hair back. You know at
some point it’s just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention.
And if others want to worry about it, I let them do the worrying for a change.’
We can learn much from the seasons. Winter is almost gone
now and the buds of spring are starting to show. Ageing is like winter, another
season of our lives. Ageing in the wisdom of our experiences and achievements
is an earned privilege which is more than a glowing complexion or a body that
makes heads turn. It is waking up knowing that despite an increasing waist line
or droopy bat wings, I am still alive and
my brain is ticking.
And as I celebrate my birthday next week I know this is the
springtime of my life.
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Source: http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/buds-of-spring-and-the-fading-glory-1.260462
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