HEALTH Getting older has some benefits

LIGHT YEARS?Ageing brings it own joys and opens up new opportunities.

Getting older has some benefits


Beauty
Maggie Gibbons

I had a significant birthday recently, and it wasn’t one with a zero, it was actually much better and a cause for much celebration in our house. Two days before the actual date a little card arrived granting me permission to travel free on buses, trains and all modes of transport except a plane! Yippee!
Well, the following day I was on a train to Dublin with every intention of getting off along the way, just for the fun of it. I delayed the gratification until we got into Kildare, where I decided to hop off and visit my school friend, who suggested a bit of retail therapy, after which we treated ourselves to a gorgeous lunch and I even stayed for a sleepover! It was hilarious.
Why am I telling you all this? Well I’m realising that quite a lot of women absolutely hate getting older. What a shame, because no matter what age you are you will seem ancient to someone 20 years younger! Ladies, you won’t stop the ageing process, but you can do the best with what you have and adapt to the changes that are happening in your bodies. Studies show the over 50s are significantly happier than their younger counterparts. I think it’s because we’ve finally grown into our skin and learned to laugh at ourselves and all our wobbly bits. We also realise that lycra does a great job at sucking us in.
You can wear what you like, when you like – just wear it. Forget about the ‘too good to wear’ stuff. Any day you get up feeling well, are able to go for a walk and enjoy your surroundings is a good day. Look at women like Joanna Lumley and Helen Mirren, so gorgeous they’d give women half their age a good run for their money.
And what about the wonderful Mary Berry? At 78 she became quite the style icon when a Zara jacket she wore on ‘British bake off’ sold off the shelves within hours.
We know looks aren’t everything, but let’s face it we’re living in a youth-obsessed culture. Young people are under so much pressure to look a certain way, and they’re bombarded with advertisements advising them on everything from Botox to preventive ageing creams. All this while still in their 20s! What pressure. Would I want all that again? Definitely not! These ‘golden years’ offer benefits like discounts in hotels, beauty salons and hairdressers. One of the best things is the extra time you have to enjoy with family and friends.
What’s so bad about going to bed with a good book at 10.30pm? We’ve done the late nights. In my 20s and 30s I was only going out at 11pm and collapsing into bed at 4am before getting up for work at 7am. Now that seems like another lifetime ago. Pollyanna I am not: There are days when I look in the mirror and say, “What happened?” Seems like a few weeks ago that I was line free and without a hint of cellulite. Thank God the vision is sufficiently blurred to camouflage the wrinkles.
You now have the opportunity to do things you’ve previously dreamed of. Take the holiday, write the book (even a journal), take a class, learn something new, the possibilities are endless. Let your inner child out to play. What a joy it is to be 50, 60, 70 and leading a healthy life. Time to celebrate!

Maggie Gibbons is an Image/Style Consultant based in Louisburgh. She can be contacted at living@mayonews.ie.