Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Who's Old?

Dr Ali Hendi, a dermatologist, was talking about the new sunscreen standards tonight on The PBS News Hour, and he said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Skin cancer use to be a disease of old people - we would see it in forty year olds. And now we're seeing it in young people." And I wondered: when did forty year olds became old people? I know a woman who is forty-two and considers herself barely out of her teens. Though that is true for her mentally, not so much in reality. Lose the bikini.

What's your take? When do things get more difficult? What does it mean to age...or to be in denial like my 42 year old acquaintance? What do you do differently? What do you fear? What are the best things about being older? I can think of dozens...like I really don't give a rat's pajamas about a lot of stuff that would have tortured me in my youth.

Well?

2 comments:

  1. As I get further and further north of 40 I become more and more convinced that a big piece of age is mental.

    Here are some of my favorite things about being older:

    1. You stop making excuses for who you are.

    2. You stop pretending to be someone you're not.

    3. You have experienced enough relationships (romantic, friendship, parent-child, child-parent) to cherish those that are special and endure.

    4. You have experienced enough relationships to recognize ones that are special and are just situational, and are fine with enjoying them just in that space and time.

    5. You are strong enough to remove toxic people from your life.

    6. The sex.

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  2. I'm sure you meant lose the bikini in the privacy of your own home. In public I like women over 40 in bikinis.

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