WHY MIDLIFE'S FABULOUS - YOUNG AT HEART

The A-Z Challenge ~ Why Midlife's Fabulous ~ Young at Heart

UNREAL EXPECTATIONS

One of the biggest downsides of the internet is the exposure you get to the unnaturally beautiful people of the world and they are sold to us as being someone we should aspire to looking like. In the media today it's all about eternal youth and trying to stay 20 forever. Apparently if you eat right, exercise madly, and use the right moisturizer, then the world is your oyster and you will have discovered the secret to eternal youth.

The problem with this line of thinking is that it's based purely on the physical - and in most cases it's the physically unattainable. We are pounded with perfection and left to feel inadequate because we aren't as young and beautiful as the paragons put before us.

THE INTERIOR - NOT THE EXTERIOR

I'm a little bit tired of being judged on my exterior - what it more important to me (and hopefully to the people who matter to me) is what I'm like on the inside. For me, it's about being young at heart - choosing to be as young as I feel inside, rather than fighting a losing battle with the ageing process.

So, rather than striving for the unattainable, I am going to be "me" and if being young on the inside means I feel like having multiple piercings, or purple in my hair, or if I want to sing out of tune, or laugh out loud, or get a tattoo, or buy a silly Tee shirt, then that's what I'm going to do. Happiness and choosing to look on the bright side of life is what keeps us young at heart - and is so much more rewarding than Botox, or Dragon's Blood, or Chuck Norris's Total Gym workout routine, or living on lettuce leaves and fresh air.

FIND THE SPARKLE

The world is full of brittle, dissatisfied people who have unrealistic expectations based on what the media has bombarded them with. Wouldn't it be lovely if we accepted our bodies and faces for what they are (reflections of the life we've lived) and instead, start being true to our inner child and finding the sparkle in life. How great would it be to see a world full of happy, content, sparkling people?

What makes you feel young at heart?


young at heart - slightly older in other places

If you'd like to read more about being Young at Heart you can go HERE or HERE.
See you tomorrow for my final post in the A to Z Challenge - Z for Zest for Life.


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13 comments

  1. I tried the Christie Brinkley "it will take 20 years off " moisturiser. Unfortunately nothing happened. I am still the same old me. I also tried the Dragons Blood moisturiser and the same face looks back from the mirror. At the least the DB was a nice product, unlike the former one. Guess I will just have to accept the fact that I am not as young as I used to be. Fancy that!

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    1. You were the Dragons Blood inspiration for that paragraph - lucky your inner child is so busy having fun - she keeps you young without all the pills and potions x

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  2. I think Leanne that most human beings you see online, or on TV, are not images of real human beings LOL. With digital remastering and of course traditional make up, I have learned not to want to look like anyone. This is not because I am a guy. Or that I was a physique model a while back. I just don't care much about my appearance from an obsessive place. Been there done that for decades. Now I just have fun and let the love exude from within. Cool post.

    Ryan

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    1. I've never been a physique model Ryan but I looked pretty good in my teens and twenties. The thing is that you can't stay 20 forever (and who'd really want to?) It's kind of nice to realize all that stuff isn't important and I really like the idea of love exuding from within :) Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.

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    2. Thanks for a super post, Leanne. If only we realised when we were younger that the inner self is more important than the outer, I'm sure we'd all have been happier young people! As it is, I'm happy with the way I look, and just hope those laughter lines don't get much deeper of my face might crack! :-) I see with your YAY! we're on the same wave length again, although a totally different genre! https://shirleycorder.com/republish_old_posts/ (Yay is for Yesterday!)

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  3. You've hit the nail on the head. Bombarded with images of those unnaturally beautiful people really is one of the drawbacks of the internet. This line really made me chuckle - Apparently if you eat right, exercise madly, and use the right moisturizer, then the world is your oyster - hahahaha. The more fool they who actually believe this. Love your shades - very sweet photo.
    Plus, we have a right to do yoga even if our bodies don't fit into the long limbed slender variety
    Yoga and divorce #Lexicon of Leaving

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  4. Being on the other side of 40, I totally hear what you are saying Leanne. I would try to loose weight like mad to fit into those grogeous dresses for the upcoming family wedding or any social gathering and then feel like I am not as beautiful or worthy as the others who all seem to be doing this so seamlessly; I often meet with my batch mates and see them all as slim and trim and wonder why cant I manage my weight, so when they all turn around and tell me how I dont look 40 + or how much fun I seem to be having than them - my perspective shifts!!
    I have learnt to try to accept myself as I am.
    And yes I love my tattoos, coloured hair and the silly tees. High- five on that one!!! Cheers

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  5. Taking time to play makes me feel young at heart. Several years ago I made a list of the activities I used to enjoy as a child, then I bought myself a hula hoop (I'm great at hula hooping), and a yellow bicycle. For my birthday, I asked for jacks, color books, and marbles (I got them). And when I have a stressful day, I call some friends and ask them to join me for swinging at the park, and some have told me it was the best phone call they ever received.

    I say it's not right, and unfair, that children are provided beautiful, creative, playgrounds, for movement and exercise... but for grown-ups, we get boring gyms with dull equipment. Some adults have taken the fun (and play) out of exercise. No wonder so many no longer feel young at heart.

    Trudy @ Reel Focus
    Food in Film: Yolk

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  6. I'm happy with me, wrinkles and all, and (gasp) I stopped coloring my hair some two years ago. Believe it or not, it makes me feel younger because it has freed me from even more of society's expectations. Reaching 64 is an accomplishment. My mother and my best friend never made it that far. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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  7. Young at heart, can't ask for more!
    I do have a hard time accepting my first grey hair appearing, though, (my 20-something hairdresser who is actually a former classmate's daughter!!! calls them "natural highlights" haha!)
    Last year I bought myself my dream (sports) car, and hubby keeps teasing, using terms like "midlife crisis", and I am all like "no - fulfilling a dream! Because life is short, and my car makes me happy!"

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  8. Yes I would rather be young at heart than young to look at. And when you are young at heart, you look young anyway. Nice post and resonated with me.

    Suzy at Someday Somewhere - You are ...

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  9. Young at heart is much more important. I still remember going to the movies with a girl friend to see Blade Trinity (an action movie about a vampire). I looked around the theater and I was the only "middle aged" women in the theater. It was fifteen years ago so I was a bit younger. Even so, everyone else was male and under twenty-five. It didn't matter. I loved the movie. I think young it heart is just continuing to find and pursue your passions wherever they lead. While exterior aging can be daunting at times, and I occasionally still struggle with it, for the most part I've learned to embrace the process. I can't stop it so might as well go with it.WeekendsInMaine

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  10. I think young at heart shines through. Happy is beautiful. And the ability to find the joy in life at all it's stages? I will take that over the physical appearance of youth any day. - Louise

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Thanks so much for your comment - it's where the connection begins.