Lifestyle : On the road to fountain of youth
Isn’t it interesting that when you are young you want to be old, but as you get older, then you wish you were younger?
I listened to a young lady who was 20 years as she talked about her feeling of annoyance when people say she looks like she is 16.
I smiled and told her that “a day would soon come when you will wish people will tell you that you look 16”.
There are some things you always wish someone had told you when you were a young age. One of those things is that ‘time flies’ by so fast.
One birthday comes after another and the years quickly fly by. Why rush to climb up the age ladder when it would soon come anyway?
Besides growing older with every birthday, there are other factors that affect how slow or how fast you age. Unlike ageing which you can’t control, these are factors that you can actually control.
Guaranteed, you can’t change how old you are, but you can change how old you look and feel. The saying that “age is a state of mind”, will not apply to you unless you do something about it.
Did you know that many causes of ageing are determined by the health and lifestyle decisions we make every day? Yes, bad lifestyle choices speed up the ageing process.
What do smoking and alcohol have in common? It is a well-known fact that alcohol and smoking are bad for your health but did you know they both add years to a person’s life?
On top of sapping the natural moisture from your skin, excessive alcohol also intensifies fine lines and wrinkles, all of which instantly make you look older.
The next time you meet an alcoholic or heavy smoker, try guessing their age. I am 99.32 per cent sure that you will guess wrongly. Basically, if you want to look or feel younger but you smoke, stop it! That goes for alcohol as well.
Before I learnt to let faith take the place of worry, I worried about every little thing that one could worry about.
Everyone worries about something from time to time but when worrying becomes a way of life, that is bad for your health.
Think back to all the things you have worried about in the past year. How did worry change the outcome?
Exactly! It didn’t. If anything, it probably only added a few grew hairs or increased your stress levels.
Uncertainty is a part of life and worrying about what could happen never solves any problem. That is a lesson I have learnt. Are you the type of person that worries too much?
Do you get worked up over every single thing, even those that are seemingly irrelevant? If so, then the chances are that you are taking life’s ups and downs too seriously, and this will undoubtedly speed up the ageing process.
When the tendency to worry creeps up, try some relaxation techniques that make you relax. You will feel and look better!
Worry and stress go hand in hand. Nothing can make you feel older faster than mental decline and has a direct connection to how you look and feel. So don’t “worry, be happy…” Which leads me to the next tip- SMILE. Yes, smiling does make you look younger.
If you are not in the habit of smiling, you might want to start with some practice.
Go and stand in front of the mirror, think happy thoughts and smile. Try to go through the motions a few times a day and you just might perfect the art of smiling.
The muscles you use to smile lift the face and make you look younger and smiling also makes you more attractive anyway.
The basis for this topic was my approaching birthday and my father’s comment many years ago that age is a state of mind. The whole premise is that the mind controls our attitude, our thoughts, our actions and our feelings. If you think young, you will act young and therefore look younger.
Next week, I will continue with practical examples of how to act young.
Ageing is inevitable. Growing older is okay with me but looking older than I am, I am not okay with that. I know it’s impossible to look young forever but if stopping a few bad habits will slow down the process, why not?
Don’t forget that the key to looking younger is to feel younger.
The Spanish Explorer, Juan Ponce de León and his crew may not have found the legendary ‘Fountain of Youth’, but perhaps you can.
Do what it takes to slow down the ageing process naturally. Eat healthily, exercise, drink lots of water, get enough sleep, have good relationships, let go of grudges and forgive, stop worrying, relax and enjoy your years.
The writer is the author of The Seduction of Food
