Following is the conclusion to the last chapter in my first book, Timeless Skin. Hopefully you have already read Ageless Beauty—Part I. Here is Part II:
Choosing how you age.
When you look in the mirror, you make a choice (consciously or
unconsciously) to either like and accept what you see or not to like it.
If you choose not to accept something, lines and wrinkles for instance,
you’ve got a problem. And a problem begs for a solution. [Some of the
possible solutions are discussed in the trends & fads category of this blog.] However, you have the
answers inside of you. In order to resolve this conflict, it will
require discipline and a paradigm shift. If you change the way you see
yourself, you can change how you age. To some, this may seem like a
simplistic approach. But committing to changing your attitude—your inner
dialogue—can profoundly affect every aspect of your personal and
individual aging process.
What you spend your time thinking about is what you will eventually create (attract) in your life. Why not choose thoughts that are healing and kind versus negative and hurtful? It is a choice. How you see the world and how the world sees you (through your most constant thoughts) is up to you. If you believe you look bad, ugly, or aged, that will be your experience when you’re out in the world. If you choose to see your beauty, the world will reflect this thought back to you.
What you spend your time thinking about is what you will eventually create (attract) in your life. Why not choose thoughts that are healing and kind versus negative and hurtful? It is a choice. How you see the world and how the world sees you (through your most constant thoughts) is up to you. If you believe you look bad, ugly, or aged, that will be your experience when you’re out in the world. If you choose to see your beauty, the world will reflect this thought back to you.
If throughout our lives all we ever heard was how great it was to be old, how cool wrinkles were, and how we’d gain wisdom and stability with age, we’d be totally into growing older. Reverse all that, and it’s the way we think about aging today. Like many things in life, your attitude comes down to choice. Will you choose to deny or abhor aging? Or will you choose to acknowledge all the good that comes with those wrinkles? What if wrinkles were cool? That attitude shift can change your life. It is within your power to create new thoughts to promote your well-being. I believe this with all my heart.
It’s a never-ending process. You won’t wake up one day and forevermore not need to work on keeping a positive attitude. You won’t suddenly look in the mirror and think you’re utter perfection. It’s a constant and unending effort to not give in to your negative, self-condemning thoughts and to raise yourself up to a different level. It takes strength to keep yourself on track. And just like exercising your muscles to keep them strong, you have to exercise your desire to see your inner beauty. You have to exercise your belief in that timeless, ageless aspect of yourself. Without this persistent pursuit, your will and determination will atrophy and wither away, just like your muscles do without exercise.
Acceptance
of aging (for me) means embracing the process instead of running from
it. I don’t really like to see the lines etching themselves into my
face, but I have chosen to accept their presence and acknowledge their
beauty. This is a conscious decision of acceptance; one I continually
make. I choose to see these etchings as markers of my growth in life. In
other words, they don’t take anything away from me; these lines add to
who I am. I want to go through life finding positive ways to see the
changes that are taking place, rather than pursuing the alternatives. It
really is a creative process—trying to find new and positive ways to
look at the aging process as it unfolds.
Aging with grace. Acknowledging your inner beauty and accepting the natural aging process is what aging with grace is all about. It is not about bowing down to the outside world, but drawing strength from within. Whether or not you have had or are planning cosmetic surgery, it is never too late to start working on the inside; the inner, all-knowing voice that says you are OK just exactly the way you are. Slow, methodical, internal changes can actually result in long-term benefits—given a chance.
The bottom line is you will do exactly what you want to do. This may mean having surgery to get back something you feel you’ve lost (or never had in the first place). It may mean choosing to find the positive aspects of aging naturally. Whichever path you choose in your life, I wish you well. Serenity may come from cosmetic changes; however, I believe true peace comes from doing inner work. It takes longer and seems to be much more difficult than the quick-fix alternatives, but the benefits are everlasting. The results from changing the inside of who you are will in turn change how the world sees you. It’s a beautiful thing.
For more articles I’ve written about the aging process, see:
- To age or not to age: Is that the question?
- Radiance—what makes a woman radiant
- Aging, “Anti-Aging” and Beauty
May health, clear skin, and a feeling of inner peace
be yours—for a lifetime.
be yours—for a lifetime.
