Birthday Post

A year older, a brain-wrinkle wiser.  

As much as I try to look at the positives of watching my years scuttle by, I can’t help but fall into the age-old trap (ha!) of fears and frets.  And I’m not just talking about wrinkles (though I’m still too young to worry about those, then again sooner or later we’ll start seeing newborns selling under-eye night cream.) 

I’m talking about the corner that every girl in her twenties gets pushed into.  That feeling you get when everyone starts to notice you’re not 21 anymore, thereby warranting the removal of fun in order to replace it with a ticking time bomb.

“Past 25?  Oh……………Really?   I…I thought you were…………I mean you really look much younger….but….have you……so haven’t you thought about…….”  And you know they’re automatically thinking brides, babies, or Botox.

And don’t worry if your friends and family are too kind to point that out!  Just flip on the old TV and be happily bombarded with pre-pubescent sex-symbols, aging creams, and the imminent disaster that awaits you at 30. 

Is this fanatical obsession with age a purely American creation?   Because I’ve heard of cultures that revere the beauty and wisdom that comes with age, while envying those that have accrued more years then them.  Or did I imagine that just to rock myself to sleep?  

I then think to myself, if tomorrow the social security administration (or whoever handles birth receipts) sent me a new birth certificate saying “sorry we made a mistake, you’re actually 10 years younger,”  how would that change my perception?

Would I feel legitimately young and therefore look young to myself?  Or would I look old, although I’m actually younger but I had spent too much time worrying about why everyone cares so much about age?   Or would I then realize that age is just a fleeting thought and if it wasn’t for the negative connotations that got served with my birthday cake each year, I would be focusing on what really mattered in life?  How can I be truly happy, advance myself, push it to the edge without going overboard, check off my bucket list including going to the Olympics even if it’s in the “how many shoe boxes can you balance” event,  AND all this while also being a bride, mother, and career woman.

Whew!  This age thing is tiring…………………………. I think I am getting old.