View this post on Instagram

 

“Is that a wrinkle?”

My sister asked me this when I was 23 years old, pointing at my eye.

Panicked and self-conscious, I ran to the mirror and checked my left eye. Ugh, there it was, a wrinkle (hardly noticeable, less than an inch, but it was there!). I suddenly shed one little tear.

One of my greatest fears then was aging, probably more than death, because I was having a grand time. Why leave a grand time, right? I had a job, a love life, friends, and places to go. My sister laughed and assured me that I was so young and it’d be ages before I grew older.

Fast-forward to 2022, and that seems to be a lie. It was not ages; it felt like days, and there I was, checking at my image in the mirror. Is that really me? Grey hair peeking from my black hair, dark eye circles, laugh lines, undefined jaw, vampire fangs (no, I’m kidding bout that last part…or maybe not). Well, I could go on and on, but then I’ll probably sadden myself further. Who actually had this bright idea to buy this mirror? Oh, that’s me too. Great!

They say it is more difficult to accept aging as a woman as we use makeup and society expects us to be almost little perfect barbie dolls or “woke up like this princesses of the world” most of the time.

Ah yes, back to the mirror, so this mirror is full length and does not want to lie. I tried to negotiate with the mirror, but it wouldn’t budge. So I did what any sane woman should do, I asked it, “Mirror, mirror on the wall! Who’s the fairest of them all?” Apparently, I saw the mirror smirk a little. Upon the mirror’s assessment, I have changed immensely from when I was young.

Well, I said, we can hardly all be Jennifer Anistons of the world you know.

Glad I still got my humor about me and kept it. I mean, if I lost that, how else could I make borderline inappropriate or cheesy jokes? It would be a boring world, for me at least.

With the worry of the superficial, you also have to worry about the inner health. Grateful, that I’m still functioning fully without the threat of major illness. But, but let me focus on the superficial here.

Modern science offers so many options to slow down aging; there are lasers, Botox, major surgeries that cost an arm and a leg so you can have a better arm and a better leg. All these sorts of things that you have to go through each description to understand them, wondering if this would all be worth it.

But as I only have budget for one venti, I settled for the things I can safely do:

Meditate

Work out

Eat healthy

Have face creams

Have happy thoughts

Be in nature

So I begrudgingly accept that I am not in my 20s and I am lucky enough to reach 2022 at the very least.

Cheers to wrinkles and back pain…

Here’s to 2028!

~