Is it a young girl or an old woman?
Two strands of white hair freaked me out today. I was combing my hair and as I was parting it the usual way, two strands of white hair stuck out and I flipped!
I have always been very cool about ageing, or should I say maturing. When people ask me about my age, I never lie about it, I say 27 years old, ten years ago (just kidding). I find it really OA when people try to hide their age or feel offended when asked about how old they are. I mean, c’mon, do people really get away with not saying their real age? All one has to do is look at a person’s driver’s license and viola! ---- There’s your evidence.
Maybe one of the reasons why I don’t feel offended when people ask how old I am is because people would normally tell me that I look young for my age (thank you, thank you). I remember three years ago while checking in at a hotel in Bangkok, the lady behind the counter asked for my passport and was charming enough to say “You were born in 1970? You’re 34? Wow, are you sure you were not born in 1980?” (blush blush). She looked really sincere so I believed her (hehe). That really made my day and I felt like I was smiling the whole week that I was in Thailand. Thailand is a beautiful country ...(sigh)!
Anyway, going back to my point, age and ageing were never a big deal for me. Unfortunately though, white hair is! You see, my father turned 71 years old last February and he is proud about his still very black hair. From time to time we see a strand or two of white hair on him but for somebody his age, he is quite lucky. And I was hoping that I would be sharing the same stroke of luck. Looks like I am not so lucky after all.
But I guess getting old is inevitable.
I know that I’ve started to "mature" when
- After turning 24 years old, my waistline started catching up with my age or maybe I should say that my metabolism started slowing down. Should I be grateful that it stopped at 29 inches? That's a question I don't want to answer
I have always been very cool about ageing, or should I say maturing. When people ask me about my age, I never lie about it, I say 27 years old, ten years ago (just kidding). I find it really OA when people try to hide their age or feel offended when asked about how old they are. I mean, c’mon, do people really get away with not saying their real age? All one has to do is look at a person’s driver’s license and viola! ---- There’s your evidence.
Maybe one of the reasons why I don’t feel offended when people ask how old I am is because people would normally tell me that I look young for my age (thank you, thank you). I remember three years ago while checking in at a hotel in Bangkok, the lady behind the counter asked for my passport and was charming enough to say “You were born in 1970? You’re 34? Wow, are you sure you were not born in 1980?” (blush blush). She looked really sincere so I believed her (hehe). That really made my day and I felt like I was smiling the whole week that I was in Thailand. Thailand is a beautiful country ...(sigh)!
Anyway, going back to my point, age and ageing were never a big deal for me. Unfortunately though, white hair is! You see, my father turned 71 years old last February and he is proud about his still very black hair. From time to time we see a strand or two of white hair on him but for somebody his age, he is quite lucky. And I was hoping that I would be sharing the same stroke of luck. Looks like I am not so lucky after all.
But I guess getting old is inevitable.
I know that I’ve started to "mature" when
- After turning 24 years old, my waistline started catching up with my age or maybe I should say that my metabolism started slowing down. Should I be grateful that it stopped at 29 inches? That's a question I don't want to answer
- I realized that I will be attending my high school homecoming this year after 20 years of graduating from high school
- I learned that I have a batch mate in high school whose son is already attending the same high school we attended
- I received a service award from the company I’ve worked with for the past thirteen years
- younger officemates know the Nina version of “Love Moves In Mysterious Ways” and they have no idea who Julia Fordham is
- I don’t understand the fuss about High School Musical, Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers
- Waiters, drivers, guard, street vendors, and bank tellers stopped calling me "Miss" and started calling me "Ma’am". I thought probably I looked more respectable.
I admit there are days (like today) when I think about ageing and I don't look forward to the day when I graduate from being called “ma’am” to being called “manang” or “ale” …. i.e. “Excuse me po, Manang.” or “Bayad po ng Ale.” But when I see beautiful people like Lea Salonga, Vicky Morales, Dawn Zulueta, Rep. Darlene Antonino Custodio, and …sige na nga Kris Aquino and Gretchen Baretto, who belong to the same age group as I do, I tell myself hey they don’t look bad at all, they look fine. In fact they look more than fine. They don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that they are pushing 40. They have achieved so much in their lives. That's when I go back to the old attitude I have, which I call “age indifference”. To be and feel either young or old depends on one’s perspective. Life is short and every year, day, hour, or minute of our lives should be enjoyed to the fullest. There’s no time to worry about age. What we make of our lives and how we impact other people’s lives is far more worthwhile than the number of years we live on this earth.
So what if I’ll be celebrating another birthday this year? What I know is that it means I am another year wiser, and that’s always a good thing.
For now, let me pluck those two strands of white hair out. (Ouch.)
young lady old woman image from
I admit there are days (like today) when I think about ageing and I don't look forward to the day when I graduate from being called “ma’am” to being called “manang” or “ale” …. i.e. “Excuse me po, Manang.” or “Bayad po ng Ale.” But when I see beautiful people like Lea Salonga, Vicky Morales, Dawn Zulueta, Rep. Darlene Antonino Custodio, and …sige na nga Kris Aquino and Gretchen Baretto, who belong to the same age group as I do, I tell myself hey they don’t look bad at all, they look fine. In fact they look more than fine. They don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that they are pushing 40. They have achieved so much in their lives. That's when I go back to the old attitude I have, which I call “age indifference”. To be and feel either young or old depends on one’s perspective. Life is short and every year, day, hour, or minute of our lives should be enjoyed to the fullest. There’s no time to worry about age. What we make of our lives and how we impact other people’s lives is far more worthwhile than the number of years we live on this earth.
So what if I’ll be celebrating another birthday this year? What I know is that it means I am another year wiser, and that’s always a good thing.
For now, let me pluck those two strands of white hair out. (Ouch.)
young lady old woman image from
http://www.naute.com/illusions/youngold.phtml
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