Our moms taught us many things when we were growing up – how to braid our hair, tie our shoes, dance, and multi-task both at home and work. However, it’s amusing that she failed to tell us what would happen as we age. It’s like we’re now the Lewis and Clark of old age…uncovering and discovering all these new and unknown changes we’re going through. It would have been nice if she would have just handed us her old-age map with instructions on what to expect.
So if your mom is anything like our mom, then you’ll want to read this blog post and avoid having to figure it out on your own.
Your hair changes color and gets thinner: Okay, we all know our hair will change from its current color to gray. This we figured out on our own just by watching our own mother’s hair. Our hair is turning gray and that is why we have a great hairstylist…to keep this change from happening. But what our moms failed to tell us is that your hair will travel to other places or leave entirely. If you went to your mirror right now you’d be shocked at the hairs now permanently located on your chin. Then, look at your eyebrows…they’re gone. We don’t see how these two areas on our faces are connected. But they are.
Hormones…or lack thereof: Most likely you received the “talk” from your mom. For some of you that could have been a few years ago…but for many in our social group that was 25 to 35 years ago. We’ve had no such talk since that faithful day. It was great to know how our hormones are ramping up when we’re 12 to 15 years old but dropping off or just completely shutting down after 50 is nothing she thought necessary to tell us. Oh, and she forgot to mention the wicked hot flashes.
Flat feet: Back in the day, we’d wear high-heel shoes and boots. Our feet and more importantly our ankles looked fabulous. After 50 it’s a bit more challenging to walk on any heels over an inch (great). The older you get the flatter your feet become and the next thing you know, you can only wear flats and well, love it.
You’d Be Happy: Whenever you talk to someone about growing old it seems to be somewhat negative – gray hair, you look tired, you shrink, nothing fits, boobs sag, hearing fails, you need reading glasses and so on and so on. But what mom didn’t tell us is that even if all things change, and sometimes not for the better, the sense of happiness that comes with aging is something to get excited about. There is a level of peace that comes with growing older and growing into your own skin. Gone is the angst we felt in our teens when we were constantly being judged by our peers.
Losing Weight. Who thought it would be so hard in your 50s to lose weight? Because your metabolism slows down, it takes twice as much exercise to work off half the calories!
Old age is something you can either embrace, or try and erase. We’re going with embrace … how about you?