Aging

From the day we’re born, with skin as soft as ever, we are aging. Age truly isn’t a number; it’s a process, where we slowly learn about the world, and our place in it. Youth is wasted on the young, we hear; the energy of children, their joie-de-vivre, is often traded for wisdom. Wisdom is, by its nature, slow. It’s slow to come, and it only seems to to enter our lives after we’ve made the mistake it could have helped us avoid. Slow as it comes, wisdom weighs down on us; it liberates us by making us more deliberate in our actions, more thoughtful with our words – it frees us by being ponderous.

Wisdom is etched into your body. Wisdom earned through blood shows up as scars across our flesh. Wisdom learned through travel shows as lines etched in our faces, worn in from the time we’ve spent basking in the rays of the sun, each a memory of a day long past, but never forgotten. We see wisdom in crow’s feet, in dimples, in the signs of a life spent smiling and laughing and merrymaking; we see it in the furrowed brows of those who constantly worry about the needs of others.

These signs of aging, they should be cherished in our society; we should look upon our elders and venerate them, for all they’ve done to keep our world, we should listen to experience so hard won that it’s permanently marked in the flesh, but we don’t. Age isn’t just wisdom, you see; it can be marked by physical weakness, it is a reminder to the young of the perils they have yet to face, and so it is seen as undesirable. Youth, that’s the ticket; the sign of beauty, the sign of readiness, of flexibility and energy.

Our wisdom can be shown without wrinkles and lines; we show it when we guide others, help them to do the right thing and choose the right path. “I’ve been down that road before”, we might say, and share with those who haven’t the things we learned, the perils we faced. We can use our wisdom to advise businesses, to help them prepare for challenges they can’t have foreseen, because they haven’t lived it. We can help our families with our wisdom, teaching them how to be good and true and just; we can help ourselves, by not falling into the habits and pitfalls we’ve learned to avoid.

Age shouldn’t be a barrier to success; it should enable us to make the right decisions, to steer the our life in the direction it needs to go. The experiences you’ve had shouldn’t make you shy, make you retreat from the world; you should shine in it, and give people the benefit of your hard fought wisdom. Go out into the world, bravely and boldly, like a child; delighted still by the wonders around you, but with the perspective of your years. Don’t let your appearance cause you any grief; facial rejuvenation technology can help you regain the confidence you need to give our society everything you can.