Aging Gratefully

We should all start to embrace our age. We all grow older by the year. That’s the universal truth that we must accept. We must not let a number — our age — become our identity. Age is no barrier. Seriously, what is the alternative to growing old? We all die. We might as well enjoy growing old. Do we have a choice? Not really. We can’t change the day we were all born. But we can change our mindsets about growing old or — okay — growing older. We can start to take care of our skins, our weights, our bodies, our state of minds, and try our best to live our lives the best that we could — happier and fulfilled.

The simple trick to aging is to enjoy it. It’s not really about aging gracefully — it’s more about aging gratefully. Gratitude. Lots of it! It’s being grateful about the fact that we’re still alive to enjoy what life still has to offer. We may show signs of aging, but we still choose to power forward with life. The fountain of youth does exist: it exists in our talents, in our mindsets, the creativity that we bring into our lives and to those we love. To the unlearned — growing older means it’s the winter of one’s life; to the wise and learned — growing older means it’s harvest season!

Whether you’re going into your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and beyond, here are ways on how to embrace aging gratefully:

• Beauty sleep. If we get between 7 to 9 hours sleep each night, our hearts will be healthier! When we are sleep deficient, our bodies go on high alert; it causes high blood pressure, which increases our risks for heart attack and stroke. Our melatonin hormones also help prevent cancer. A good sleep helps suppress the growth of tumours. It also reduces inflammation. As we get older, inflammation causes the body to deteriorate. A deep sleep also improves our memory. Studies have also shown that getting plenty of zzzz helps with weight loss. Personally, I make it a point to get 7 to 8 hours sleep on weekdays. On weekends, I can easily sleep for 10 hours! It helps if you can stick to a routine. To help you sleep, lower the temperature of your room. Turn off all electronics. Try some aromatherapy.

• Move that body! It’s important to have physical activities such as taking up sports and daily exercises. Being active helps us live healthier and longer lives. Walking builds your stamina and helps fight osteoporosis. Dancing helps you burn a lot of calories and is a fun activity to do! Racquet sports such as tennis, badminton, and squash lower your risks of dying from heart disease. Swimming helps build muscles and bones while helping the mindset of people with fibromyalgia. Cycling helps your blood moving and builds muscles on both the front and back of your hips and legs. Cardio exercises and strength training at a gym gets your heart rate up, builds endurance, burns calories, keeps your muscles ready for action. Doing yoga exercises help us with our balance and relieves anxiety and depression.

• Do the CTM skincare daily routine.  Tone. Moisturizer. Make sure you do these vital skincare steps twice a day — when you wake up and when you go to sleep. These three steps are the heart and core of healthy skincare. CTM helps you remove stale makeup, impurities, and pollutants from your skin. These steps help condition your skin and tightens open skin pores. It helps maintain healthy skin pH. It delays onset of visible signs of aging on skin. Once or twice a week, use a facial mask or scrub for clogged pores. From yours truly, after my cleansing and toning routine, I rub ice cubes all over my face to freshen up and tighten my skin. Then, I moisturize.

• Have a yearly medical, dental, and vision check-ups. It’s a must that as we grow older, we should have regular medical, dental, and vision check-ups. Have your teeth cleaned every three months. Floss and brush your teeth at least twice a day. Have your eyes checked at least once a year. For medical, have your cholesterol tests, bowel cancer test, blood pressure checks, and skin cancer checks. For older men, it’s recommended that they go for prostrate cancer checks. For women — have a cervical smear test and a mammogram test for women over 50.

• Get hydrated.Drink lots of water. Drink hot lemon water. Drink green tea. I have my daily morning rituals: I drink a mug of hot lemon water, cold green tea, and a litre of water. I drink at least 2.5 litres of water throughout the day. Water accounts for 60% of our bodies — it makes sense to keep our bodies replenished with water. It helps cleanse our bodies inside and out. It keeps our skins supple. Drinking water keeps our joints lubricated, prevents infections, helps with better quality of sleep, and stabilizes our moods. Drinking hot lemon water boosts our immune system and fights viral infections and sore throats. When you drink hot lemon water first thing in the morning, it helps flush out the digestion system. Drinking either hot or cold green tea is beneficial because of its antioxidants that may prevent certain cancers. It also helps prevent type 2 diabetes. It reduces bad breath and prevents cardiovascular disease.

• Eat plenty of plants. It is rich in fibre! Eating lots of plants will be better for your gut — you are able to absorb nutrients from food that reduce inflammation, stabilizes blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, and allows you to have better bowel movement. Now is the best time to start eating more veggies, leafy greens, legumes, fruits, nuts, and seeds!

• Watch your waistline. The last thing we want as we age is the visceral fat — fatty deposits around our internal organs and abdomen. The fat around our waist can cause diabetes and other inflammatory diseases. Not all fat is created equal. Visceral fat is more dangerous to our wellbeing than subcutaneous fat (under the skin).

• Accepting our wrinkles and fine lines. Each line on our face has a story behind it. We have these lines because we are expressive: we laughed out loud on all the funny moments we experienced; we cried and frowned on our sad moments; we grimaced during our painful moments; we wrinkle our eyes during moments of ecstasy. Our wrinkles on our faces tell different stories about the people we’ve connected with and the places we’ve visited in our lifetime. Be grateful of your laugh lines, frown lines, cheek creases, crows’ feet, stress lines, and sun lines — they depict your character — a wonderful human being living his or her life to the fullest. It’s liberating to be able to accept one’s imperfections! We cannot fight the science of aging. This is why it is more important to have beautiful minds and hearts. Follow the same path that Audrey Hepburn took.

• Take up new hobbies and get creative!Hobbies are excellent stress busters. There are different types of hobbies. Physical hobbies such as hiking, camping, yoga or martial arts give us physiological benefits such as lowering our blood pressure, strengthening our bones, help us with weight loss and keep us energized. Interpersonal and social hobbies are a great way to nurture our friendships and meet new ones. Social hobbies such as watching movies, exploring new restaurants, and joining a book club add another layer of support in terms of reducing our daily stress. It facilitates healthy bonding with others. Try and join a meet up group or you can always start your own. Creative hobbies allow us to tap into our hidden talents waiting to come out. Go ahead with your guitar lessons. Take up voice lessons. Write your first novel. Take up crocheting or knitting. Hobbies are meant to uplift us and improve the quality of our lives. Hobbies are meant to boost our confidence and improve our self-esteem.

• Spice up your love life! Life definitely gets in the way as we get older. Totally. Other aspects in our lives end up taking priority over our partners and we end up becoming more like roommates than lovers. We must keep that flame flickering! Studies have shown that one of the secrets to great health and happiness is having great quality relationships. Start trying new things in the bedroom or even better, outside your bedroom — be more adventurous and sexier! Be spontaneous: bring flowers for no reason or surprise your partner by getting naked in the middle of the kitchen right after work. Take mini vacations. Institute a new rule where you have to try new positions once a month. If you’re single and ready to mingle: explore the world of Tinder, Match, or Bumble. Go on date nights. However, always date with caution. Here are the basic online dating rules to go by for your safety: make sure you are ready to date, find the best dating site for you, create an interesting online profile, take advantage of intelligent matchmaking personality tests, take your time on screening your potential partner. Meet in a safe place near your area. Have a detailed escape plan in case it doesn’t work out. If you prefer a more vetoed approach — another way to meet a potential partner is to get some introductions from your connections — that’s how I met mine!

• Dress up! The way you dress is a statement; a fashionable way to say who you are without having to utter a single word. Whether we’re in our 30’s or 60’s — we all earned the right to dress as we please. We must always dress for ourselves and not for others. Think like Tina Turner. Even if you’re 60 and you still have the legs of a 30 years old — by all means, flaunt it! For men, channel Brad Pitt — if you are into your 50’s and don’t have a dad bod — go ahead and dress like Harry Styles! Growing older means having enough confidence not to worry about what others think. Be bold. Be colourful. Above all, don’t give a hoot to people who say, “Aren’t you a bit old for that?” Your years on this planet have earned you the right to be who you are — just as you are. It’s fun to be cray in a voguish way!

• It’s all in the mind! It’s important to have healthier minds, as we grow older. It’s all about our mindsets and attitudes. Happiness does not come from external factors. It’s all about choosing how to react towards what life throws at us. It’s all about the choices we make. We must choose positivity over negativity. Positivity brings so much joy and happiness in our lives. It uplifts our energies. When we’re positive, we attract the right people we want to have in our inner circles. Living positively helps us accomplish our goals in life. It is better for our health and our confidence. The more we feed our minds with positive thoughts, the more we can attract great things in our lives. Be kind. Speak the language of love. Stay swaggy!

To quote the magnificent Helen Mirren:

“Your 40s are good. Your 50s are great. Your 60s are fab. And 70 is f*@king awesome!”

Whatever age we’re in — know that it is the perfect age for us. Each year that we add onto our lives are meant to be precious and special. We only have one life — make each year matter. Be comfortable and grateful with growing older — it’s better than being six feet under!