Freaking out about aging!

[Princess_Jasmine]

It's so funny, today a little girl asked her grandma why I looked like a girl as I walked out, and it made me smile because I'm living in "boy mode" with really short hair still. It makes me so happy knowing my face is feminine enough to pass even with short hair

And this is the problem! I am very happy with my feminine face and I am afraid to lose it one day due to aging. I am 19 years old, two months into hormones, and I am loving all of the psychological and physical changes. 

But the one thing that I didnt expect was to have such intense anxiety over aging?!! It is so weird, I guess because I've always wanted to be a girl and take hormones, I am afraid now that I have this gift that I will lose it at some point. It's like some thing inside me says your not valuable unless your pretty...when you have wrinkles you won't be pretty... therefore you become worthless. I never used to think about aging or such silly things, but it seems that after starting hormones that my anxiety has gotten pretty bad to the point where I actually feel tension in my face from stress over aging. I don't understand this dilemma. I feel as though because I was so happy in my childhood days when I looked feminine and then became severely depressed once I started looking masculine at puberty, that fear is somehow still lingering. Its as if my mind believes that when I lose my feminine appearance from aging, I will become depressed like when I lost myself at puberty, and the brain just wants to the worrying process now.

Ugh I can't understand why this is becoming such a big deal to me but I would like anyone else's opinions if they have gone through or thought about the same thing. How do you cope and just forget about it? Thank you

[Janet_Girl]

Honey.

Aging happens from the day you are born.  And why do you think that companies like Avon, Revlon, L'Oreal, Oil of Olay and many others make wrinkle reducing/removing products.  And Millions of Women spend billions of $$$ on those products.

I even use Avon Ultimate for my wrinkles.  It happens, but use SPF 15 or higher, don't smoke, drink moderately, use mild products to remove makeup nightly and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.  And just enjoy life.

Be Proud of ever wrinkle you get as a woman.  You might as well, because you can not escape getting older. 


Janet

[Bellaon7]

(in jest) Worrying about  getting older? Why should I worry about about not dying? It's only make me go gray sooner!

[AmySmiles]

Eh, you don't lose feminine appearance from aging, just youthful feminine appearance.  You're going to get older one way or the other, and everyone does.  You're 19, you will have more than your entire life (so far) to enjoy a mostly wrinkle-free face.  I used to worry about it a little, but once I started thinking of the big picture like that I stopped worrying about it altogether.

[Monique Martinez]

Yeah what bell said!
but if you are reallllyyyyy concerned beyond control... eat lots of fruit in the mornings, fruit is amazing and full of so many nutrients that help fight the aging process (especially oranges).
Don't use creams that have any form of wax in them as they just block your pours and make your skin reliant on the them, drying it out even more!
Avoid long hot showers especially in winter.
Research research research!!
S.x

[Northern Jane]

Well PJ, I started this road at about your age. When I did transition/SRS at 24, I was pretty enough to turn heads, never a shortage of dates, and pretty much had my pick of men.

That was 35 years ago! I am 60 today. I have laugh lines, a few wrinkles, and the body isn't as trim and curvy as it used to be but I still look pretty good. Most people guess I am 10 to 15 years younger than I am, men still hold the door and smile. Being "hot" can age into grace and dignity and that's not a bad thing.

[Deanna_Renee]

At 19, there are a lot more things to be concerned about than getting old (sorry, that sounds a little harsh). You have so many years ahead of you to live and enjoy before you even start to wrinkle. I'm a decade past being twice your age and not really close to worry about wrinkling (though I do miss the red locks - lots of gray under that wig - hair color coming soon). I would much rather get old as a woman than a man any day of the week. The way things have progressed in my life, by the time you get as OLD as me, they will probably have much better solutions/cures for age and you won't have to worry about it even then.

I agree with Janet as for the sunscreen, no smoking, moderate drinking et al. I'll also add get enough sleep, these will all go a long way to keeping you young looking.

Enjoy your youth as long as you can.

Deanna

[Myself]

I felt and sensed aging and death from a very young age.
And that is even though I didn't see many people die.

It's like GID, I knew I don't want to die, not to grow old.

I was the weirdest person in school, thinking about life extension and living forever.

I learnt about supplements, nutrition, technology, biology.. lifestyle.

This is why I went for biotechnology above all, I want to help research like stem cells, genetics and SENS ( www.sens.org ).

I see aging as a solvable disease just like any other and I will fight it and win.

I actually think aging might be less of a risk of dying now than other things.
In 20-30 years there will be a lot of practical applications for it (and you don't really die of aging, aging doesn't exist, it's a term including diseases caused by degeneration) and cryonics at worse cases.

[shanetastic]

I hear ya!

Ever since I turned 21 I thought to myself great no more good birthdays to look forward to.  Can I just be this age forever :]

But like everyone else sorta says, can't stop it, but you can try to prevent it and so on.  We have our whole lives to live still, and I think worrying about aging is one of the things that we shouldn't be too concerned about.  How about getting a job after college? Relationships? Family? I'm sure you can preoccupy yourself thinking about many other things that will be coming up quicker :]

[Luc]

You're 19, and you're worried about it? Jeez. I'm 27, and every day I feel like it's just one more day I've accomplished nothing, and am closer to death. Beautiful outlook to have, yeah? The last thing you should be concerned about losing, however, is your beauty. Looks fade, but who you are inside remains. As such, I figure it's most important for us to focus upon edifying ourselves from the inside out, because honestly, when we're all dead and buried, are people going to remember how we looked primarily, or how we affected them in every other way?

That said, anti-wrinkle cream is good. But not at 19! Give yourself a good 6 years before you really start panicking.

SD