Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! It is always nice to celebrate my special day with others.
The celebration of my birthday makes me reflect upon the idea of age. I phrase it this way because I truly believe that age is just an idea. In fact, it is an idea that is imposed upon us from the day we are born until the day we die. We are told that our bodies are the representation of a specific number so we act accordingly in conjunction with that representation. Those who choose to "forget" about that number and act as they please are considered rebels. Those who act as they should are "normal."
We are also told to fight against this number at every opportunity. Age has become something to be feared, for it serves as a reminder of our impending doom (which, I must remind you, can crash over us at any point in time). So, many people try to look younger as a defense mechanism for fighting mortality. I find this to be ironic. If life can end at any time, what is the use of exerting so much energy to pretend that it can't? Shouldn't this energy be used to live every second as if if were your last (as cliche as that sounds)?
I can honestly admit that I enjoy getting older. I have never been one to look back. I don't see the point in using anti-wrinkle creams or injecting myself with botox. Age is not something to embarrassed of, it is something to embrace. With age comes freedom, and what could be more sweet than enjoying the freedom to do and act as you please? Age also seems to help us be more honest with ourselves. When I was younger I used to be embarrassed of my characteristics that would not be deemed "cool" by my peers. Now, I just don't care. I am who I am and I am not ashamed to admit it.
18 comments:
This was a very interesting post! I completely agree with you about the fact that age is just a number. But with age comes more experiences, and with those experiences comes more wisdom and knowledge. In so many ways, I find age to resemble a good thing. It is the inevitable, or in other words it is something you have no control over. However, this is a good thing because you learn as you grow without even knowing it. I don’t think anyone, young or old, should be ashamed of their age.
Your youth in many ways represents the purity and innocence of a person, which sets a standard for the future of our people. On the other hand, your seniority represents the years of experience in which you have incorporated knowledge to impress onto the new generations of society. For these reasons, age does its role in life making it something we should, if anything, look forward to. That is why you, Mrs. Stoklosa, should not be afraid to share your own age with the class or anyone else for that matter. Like you said, "I am what I am and I am not ashamed of it." Stick to who you are, and don’t regret it! But that is none of my business. As I get older, I feel that I am learning more and more every day. I am excited to grow old and become true to myself. Something that I will always remember is that the older you are, the luckier you are; not everyone gets the chance to live a long, healthy life.
Happy birthday! I'm glad that you enjoyed your day because you deserved it. I agree with you on the wrinkle cream. There's no reason why you would use it when you don't even have wrinkles. Maybe you will change your mind when you get to that point. Life is something that should be enjoyed and people do everything just to impress others. They shouldn't care as much. I could care less what people think, but that's just me.
I completely agree with you. I am a strong believer that age is nothing but a number, and that you are as young as you feel.
I never thought of age as something that was imposed on you from the day you are born, but now that I come to think of it, it is so true. As we progress through the stages of our life (infant, child, teen and finally an adult), we act accordingly to the time period in our lives. when we're kids, we are told by parents that we should be nice, and that the world is a beautiful and nice place to live in, and that "Santa Claus" exists, and we act and believe what we are told. Then comes the teenage years (the real pain in the butt), this where we try to show who we are and try to be "bad asses" becuase as we hear from everyone, these are the "rebellious years," and so we try to be rebels. finally, we reach adulthood and we start thinking about getting old, and ugly, and how boring our lives are going to be, and we focus so much on these things, that eventually end up been ugly and boring.
Age is nothing but a state of mind, and this is what people don't get. They think that age has everything to do with our physical appearance, and that's why they do some weird crap, trying to look "younger." Like you said, looking younger is not going to keep you from dying, death will come when it has to, whether you're young and pretty, or old and wrinkly.
"I am who I am and I don't give a damn!"
I honestly don't know who first stated that phrase, but I was reminded of it when I read that ast sentence, "I am who I am and I am not ashamed to admit it."
Anyways, age is truly just a number, and I agree with many of the arguments you point out here regarding this concept of age itself. Specifically, when you referred to the fact that most people act "accordingly in conjunction" with the representation of their age, I had to completely agree with this statement. Society today is so focused on looks and other similar materialistic ideas that age is falling into this category as well. Age, like all aspects of life, should be embraced, and certainly not hidden or ashamed of. Although I love being 16, which is relatively young, I think, I tend not to worry about my progressing age and instead enjoy life as it presents itself in front of me.
I agree that age is just a number and that people shouldn’t worry about being older, they should think age is however old you feel inside. I also think if you over obsess how much your true age means to you, you will spend your whole life too busy being concerned about being "old" that you won't be able to enjoy life. People should celebrate getting older, wiser, and more confident, not be embarrassed about their age.
To begin with, I'd like to congratulate you on what was the catalyst to this thought. Happy birthday, and I hope you have a great day. I know it won't bring you down to be older, as many other people are discouraged. Sure it is cliche to think that age is just a number, but that is how it should be. It is not natural to count every minute and every hour and every day and every year of your life. After all, you don't see animals counting their days. Also, I know that people always end up acting how they should by their social roles, and by considering age, they act as their age is supposed to. You act as you want, and enjoy everything!
This post was very interesting to me, just last week mom was talking to me about how old she was turning and how traumatized she was about it. In my opinion, age is simply just a number, but for others, it manage their lives. They spend their time following the guidelines listed by that age, it's as if they become restricted by these things. For example, my mom has been spending the past few months trying to 'better her appearance' to look younger, always to make herself look younger than she really is.
The argument about age being something imposed on you from when you were born was really interesting to me, because it makes so much since. We spend our whole life being guided by our age, the way we act, how we dress, what we do, etc. I believe one is as old as they feel and that is the only thing that matters.
Age truly is but a number. I agree, more people should embrace their age in lieu of trying to subtract from it. Wrinkles are a part of life, they make each person an individual. Too many people today put plastic and that botox nonsense in their faces and frankly, I think it's ridiculous.
I also believe that society has made one's age a way to classify them. I'm very young for my grade and when I was in elementary school, some of my peers excluded me because they thought just because I was a few months younger, I automatically wasn't “cool” enough to be in whatever grade. Many of our forty-something year old parents wish they were thirty again because thirty year olds are so much more glamorous.
I agree with you, my dad's like 97 well not really but I'm gonna guess it's 97 because he's been 38 for as long as I can remember. But yeah I agree with you, I always wonder what I'm gonna look like when I'm older though I never seem to dread the mental images of my soon to be weak, flacid body either.
I believe that you are as old as you feel. It has become more common for people(especially women) to say things like 50 is the new 40. Why don't people just say their 40 if they feel 40. Some people act like a kid their whole lives and I praise them for it. Why should we feel punished for aging?
As far as using products to be youthfull, maybe that's just their way of saying "I feel young so I may as well look young" or maybe not. It's all up to opinion. On the other hand people may enjoy aging because they feel as if they are starting a new chapter of life.
My parents aren’t the "young" parents but they are older compared to my friends parents but they are healthy and live each day to the fullest. No body should feel embarrassed to say their age because one day that person is going to be in the same situation. You should celebrate all the memories you have had with the ones you love, that’s all that matters.
I love how everyone agrees with your posts just so they "look good" for a good grade. I honestly feel that age does affect your physical appearance and stamina. I'm sure that a 60 year old person is not going to go and try skydiving. Also, People that buy botox and anti-aging creams are just trying to look a little younger, their not necessarily ashamed of age. Who doesn't like looking young? I find the topic of age to be irrelevant to your statement "I am what I am and I am not ashamed of it" because you're talking about personality. I do, however, love your rebellious personality. You're always talking about fighting the power or being evil in class. Your attitude just insinuates that you're just an awesome teacher with radical ideas. You're probably the most interesting teacher I've had so far.
Age is just a number. Love it but don't think of it to be right. Age is just the number of times the earth orbits the sun. The number of days that add to month and make a year, all made up by a person, some of it Julio Ceasar some come from others like Aztecs.
But age to my opinion is how a person view their penical of life, if that penicle it all your life then how to say your not twenty all your life. But either way it all plays in the mind and if that persn has the confidence and securrence on how, well, how many times the earth has gone around the sun seems the first beet of your heart.
I think that you are correct that age is just an idea and we should not be embarrased of getting older. When I grow up i am never going to do anything to myself not even dye my hair when it turns grey. I sort of agree with your idea of living every day of your life as if it were your last but I disagree. This is because you cant do what you would the last day before you die because if you do and your still alive the next day a lot of people would be in a lot of trouble for what they did. But if you dont do what you want you may die and never live up to what you wanted to.
Age is just a number. I agree completely. People don't have to be old to be wise. I believe a wise person can be young too. I don't believe that people should fear the coming of age. Its natural and theres no real way to stop it. So, embrace it and take a ride.
Age is defined as a period of time
I think age is defined by much more than just a number it means freedom, wisdom, knowledge, responsibility (if you want it), every day you learn something new.
At seventeen I don’t consider myself to be exactly old, I can only make assumptions on what that is like. The part where you mention aging cream and characterize the people that use it as trying to fight mortality, I have to say I disagree. We live in a world where aesthetics are truly important, if you don’t look right in a job interview, you don’t get it, and I suppose some companies do see age as a guarantee that you’ll stop working soon.
I agree age is really just a number. I told you in class how I freaked out when my mom told me her real age. She always tells me she’s "28" every year but I know that’s not true! Even though I know her actual age, it doesn’t mean anything. The way you look and the way you feel is how old you should feel. The way I feel about age is there is nothing you can do about it because it's always going up, but you can always make yourself feel younger doing certain things like you were young. Age doesn’t scare me.
Age is a number but also a warning. I urge old men all the time to remember the overrated age of 70 and stop sky diving and ultimate water rafting. I believe such elderly figures must be realistic with their age and notice it's for their own good.
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