The older one gets, the faster the days seem to go by. Soon enough, you will realize you’ve reached senior status.
Scary, huh? But I guess it is a reality that we all have to face. And my philosophy is, we must accept and embrace aging, and try our best to slow down the process so that we can enjoy quality of life in our middle age, and well into our advanced age.
When people learn my age, I am often asked what my beauty regimen or “secret” is. Upon learning some of my practices or tips (I wouldn’t call them “secrets”), friends and colleagues urge me to share them in Asian Dragon. So for whatever its worth, here they are.
- How you age is a reflection of your state of health. If you are healthy, you will definitely look better. Have a healthy lifestyle—eat and sleep well, exercise (though I must confess, this is an area I have to improve on). Hydration is important; don’t smoke, and drink occasionally and in moderation (full disclosure: I don’t drink socially, just for work). These are basic things we know, but which are always easier said than done.
- Take care of your internal organs with routine annual checkups—blood chemistry, chest x-ray for starters. Best to be under the care of a family doctor (internist, OB gyne, cardiologist). I started in my late 20s. The older you get, the more tests you have to do. Don’t forget your dentist, too. I now go for quarterly cleaning rather than once or twice a year. My doctors always say it’s better to detect sickness early than late. Always make time to see your doctor, and don’t be afraid to take maintenance medicines as needed, so diseases don’t destroy your organs.
- Practice head-to-toe maintenance care, from your hair to the soles of your feet. Maintaining your looks will give you self-satisfaction and confidence.
- Learn to manage stress. We can’t escape problems or stressful situations in life, so best to focus on solutions. If you do so, things will get better faster and we can get rid of stress sooner than later. Prolonged stress can make you ill.
- Strive to constantly improve yourself and grow so you’ll keep on learning. Learning new things keeps your brain active, which controls not just our bodily functions but also our whole being. We need to take care of our brain the way we take care of our body’s organs, such as our heart, lungs, etc.
- As we age we gain wisdom and experience, which is also the reason why we become more skeptical and jaded. And so we must strive to keep our optimism, idealism, and passion alive. It’s what will keep us young in spirit. I find new projects or doing something different can ignite the fire in our bellies.
- Invest more time and effort in developing meaningful relationships and attending to important activities. We can’t afford to run ourselves to the ground.
- As they say, “Too much of a good thing is bad,” but a wise friend of mine was quick to correct this and say, “There’s never too much when you do good things and deeds.” Doing good deeds makes you happy, and happiness radiates beauty.
- Accept that we can’t always get what we want, and be thankful for that we have received and achieved.
- Believe in the power of prayer. God has a purpose for us in our lives, and we pray we are able to achieve this in our lifetime.
So as you can see, there really is no fountain of youth. In our middle age until our advanced age, how we look is really a function of how we have lived our lives, and taken care of ourselves in mind, body, and spirit in our quest to fulfill our mission and purpose in life. I hope you will find some of my tips useful, though.
Photograph courtesy of Image: istockphoto.com
