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A Humorous Look at Aging

Daily Inspiration

By John H. Sklare, Ed.D, Lifescript Personal Coach

After a rather intense workout on the tennis court the other day, my hitting partner looked at me in breathless frustration and said, “This was a lot easier a few years ago!”

I grinned and nodded in agreement, as we both let out a chuckle. I think the uncomfortable laugh was an attempt by both of us to mask and cushion the brutal reality of his statement. I’ve been hitting tennis balls for most of my life and it was definitely a lot easier a few years ago.

After leaving the court I began to think about the process of growing older and how we all deal with aging differently. Of course, how healthy you are as you age will make a significant difference in how you feel about this inevitable aspect of the life cycle. Even though most people tend to hate the thought of growing old, it definitely beats the alternative.

With that said, I’d like to take a comical walk through the process of aging by sharing with you some funny quotes (from here and here) about this whole adventure of maturation:

You Know You’re Getting Old When:
Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
It takes twice as long to look half as good.
You and your teeth don't sleep together.
Your address book has mostly names that start with... Dr.
Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.

I also ran across a funny piece that broke down the human lifespan into four primary stages of development. Even though I’ve never seen these four stages in any psychology textbooks, I thought they were both perfectly descriptive and easy to identify with.

Since living a long life is truly a precious gift, it’s only appropriate that we use Santa as our gift-giving example. According to the Santa Claus Theory of human development, these are the four stages of life:

Stage 1: You believe in Santa Claus
Stage 2: You don't believe in Santa Claus
Stage 3: You are Santa Claus
Stage 4: You look like Santa Claus

Finally, there are three quotes that I’d like to share with you about the process of aging that seem to offer up the perfect balance of humor and serious food for thought.

The first quote is by Victor Hugo and is a great example showing clearly the power found in your ability to mentally reframe things like aging: “Forty is the old age of youth, fifty the youth of old age!”

The second quote gets to the heart of what makes someone old or youthful in both mind and spirit: “How old would you think you were if you didn’t know how old you are?” This quote speaks to something in psychology called Subjective Experience and is intimately tied to how you see yourself and the world inside your head.

At the end of the day, however, there is nothing we can do to stop this relentless human progression called aging. Even though you can certainly slow it down by living a healthy life, eventually our bodies break down over time just as our automobiles do.

Our minds through our subjective experience, however, have the ability to resist aging because they don’t have to abide by Mother Nature’s laws of physical deterioration.

So the third and final quote I wanted to share with you states: "You’re only as old as you feel!"

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare

www.innerdiet.com