As I get older, I can't help but notice various changes taking place... Physical changes - Aging skin, arthritis, other aches and pains, diminishing hearing and vision, shifts in various interests
I realize that none of us can stay young forever... But how do you deal with it and age gracefully?
Well I started to divide my age by 2 after 50!. Me, I'm going kicking and screaming, alas not so gracefully. Oh I turned 55 last week and did a 22 mile bicycle ride yesterday. For me staying active is the key, or as active as I can be anyway
What is this getting older? I am only 39. and holding. And come March I will have been holding for 18 years.
Age is but a number. It depends on how you approach life. If you think you are just getting older, that is what you get. Older.
But if you think that it is another day to live to the fullest, then you will live to the fullest.
Oh and if you haven't done the math yet. I will be 57 come March.
I don't know the answer to this one. :o
Seriously, I don't. Aging is one of the most scary parts of life.
All through childhood you struggle to become this cute young girl. In your early twenties you finally manage it for an all too brief moment, and then slowly watch in the mirror as some cruel sod slowly erases her and replaces her, first with your mother and then your grandmother.
It's not a good effect. I want more time, and I want to go back and be a cute, slim, irresponsible teenager again, with all the extra possibilities that our current world allows.
Meanwhile I am taking lots of excercise to stay active and mentally pushing myself hard to stay current and not become one of the complaining out of touch old dears that I see daily.
I want to live till I am at least 120, but for God's sake somebody shoot me if they ever find me carping on about how it all used to be so much better when I was young, and how modern youth have no morals, because it's a lie.
The world has changed a lot, but much of it is hugely for the better.
Growing old is mandatory .... growing up is NOT!
I grew up once, tried it for awhile, and decided it wasn't for me. Now I have been perfecting the juvenile delinquency that I missed! :o I am now of an age where there is no one with the authority to tell me "No" and I am making the best use of it.
I try to stay physically active, mentally involved, take care of my body, and live every day to the fullest with lots of laughter. It must be working because nobody can believe I am as old as the calender says and most guess me to be at least 20 years younger (physically).
Sure I miss being young and having abundant energy, slim, curvy, and pretty but "perky" boobs have been replaced by D's and I am still called cute so what the heck!
Well, as for me, at the age of 55 (come April), I am looking forward to a repeat of puberty. But better this time. So, for all intents and purposes, I am but a mere 13 year old girl. And the people in my family do age well and live long, so I guess I'm lucky on that score. Take a look at my avatar photo. Do I look my age? On the thread "A photo sharing thread" in the "Just for us" section, somewhere there's a page where I posted a picture of Tim vs. Colleen. Tim is old. Colleen is much younger. I'll be younger still when I go on HRT.
Oh, but I know what you mean. The thing is, the flower of youth really is fleeting, but there is much beauty also in older women. Just look at the Dove commercials. Beauty is where you find it, and it's mostly a reflection of personality. The same person can be either beautiful or ugly depending on whether they spread beauty around them or distress. How they treat people. Whether they are self-centered or gregarious. I may never get wolf-whistles or draw envious glances based on my appearance alone, but from what I've seen so far, I will draw enough wonderful people around me to create a world of happiness for myself (and others), and that's really all I want.
Hi Virginia Marie
In my country there is a saying: everyone wants to get old but nobody wants to be.
We just have to live our lives with as much pleasure as you can have.
And remember, you are not gonna be a year older, only a day, so live that day in the way you like.
Ther are still ( I hope) a lot of days to enjoy.
hugs
annette
For me staying active is the key, or as active as I can be anyway
^^^^^ THIS^^^^^
My wife is your age (with a big birthday coming in ten days). I am seventy, and don't lie about my age (as an aunt used to say: I've earned every one of those years). But I don't age gracefully, at least not so far. Some friend moved into a "mature" community; I need to have friends of all ages, including children and twenty somethings. I still like to skip, do the twenty-mile Walk for Hunger annually, and hike in mountains or along the shore (as far and as fast as my wife can manage). Good genes and luck help. As others have said, keeping active, mentally and physically, seems to be a key. I love my work: heavy physical labor, moving packages in a warehouse for UPS. And the health benefits are great (including three pair of glasses every two years and hearing aids, when I need them). Apropos of nothing, moisturizer helps with the skin. I love to cook and eat, and enjoy my eight hours sleep. There's an inexhaustible list of things to do to make the world a better place in which to live. I want to allow more time for knitting and sewing. But all in all, I'm very happy with my life.
I know most of you are years ahead in exploring the realms of gender, but I intend to play catch up (wherever that leads me). I understand, someday I will die, but until then, I intend to live as fully as I can. Weee!
S
I myself am 43 years old and I admit I am an age-aholic.
If anyone could please refer me to a good 12 step program a Aging anonymous, I would appreciate it.
Until then. I am trying to just be the woman I want to be. Use the age appropriate clothing and to lose weight and get into good health. But the woman in my family are strong and live long so I'll do fine!
Here ma momma at 80 and daddy at almost 90!
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flh4.ggpht.com%2F_LAea2X7GmGI%2FTTpXkrwP8-I%2FAAAAAAAAACQ%2F8DM7thzOSHY%2Fs640%2FDSCI0123.JPG&hash=19615d68a24d24735a3ed830f7d0125f5d2912e7)
Mom maintains that a glass of wine with dinner keeps you healthy and dad promises to be a beer taste tester anywhere anytime just ask!
hugs
Simone.
Yeah I would say those are your folks, Simone. You definitely take after Mom, but you have your Fathers eyes.
Aww thank you Janet.
I take that as a compliment of the highest order. Hugs
Point is aging is something we all do and if my folks can keep going to by day living loving and laughing, we all can.
You're only as old as you feel.
Okay Janet come here please I need a hug and that way I can tell you how old you feel! :icon_poke:
Fish Oil tablets for the joints.
Vitamin tablets for the body
Hormones for the brain and body
Booze for the rest
>:-) >:-)
Cindy
Wow, Simone... your dad doesn't look a day over 70! Quite the feat! I think he will like my beer (everyone does)...
Thank you my dear sisters and friends for you insightful and sometimes humorous replies
I love all of you :-* :-* :-*
*HUGS*
- Virginia
I am 35! Thank god for dyslexia :) I am my mother except for a few things.....
Since I transitioned, I have built a car. A 1981 VW Scirocco with a 2L 16v that is ported and polished with a T3/T4 turbo. It peaks at 250 BHP. I took it to a track with some friends (that dont know about me) and beat V8 Mustangs and high end Jap cars. Hehehe.
Boy a couple of them were really ticked :)
I also teach fuel management and wiring systems for the cars. Not bad for an old lady :)
Now I am learning autonomous flight systems. Again, I just that whacked lady, not afraid of laughing at herself or attempting something she's never done before.
I honestly feel free for the first time in my life to laugh and live. Damn it took a long time....
Talk about a late bloomer!
I think ageing - both physical as well as mental - are just an exercise in Newtonian Motion. Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest, bodies in motion tend to stay in motion. Minds at rest tend to stay at rest, minds in motion tend to stay in motion.
You need 3 things to make/keep your body healthy:
a) food
b) fresh air
c) exercise
I moved away from full on sparing in my late 30s, and focused my martial arts training (which was my way of keeping fit) on just doing the katas I was taught and work on perfecting the forms in the mind as well as the body - really moving all of it much closer to Tai Chi than martial arts. I still ski, and I still ski hard slopes, but I quit doing the moguls in my 30s, quit racing by my 40s, and now I just kick back and get into the zen of it. Being one with the mountain and not having to be the first one down, or King of the Hill and all that. But it's about the physicalness of it as much as being out in the snow and sun and fresh mountain air and the most mind-blowing beauty of being over Lake Tahoe If you do nothing, take up Tai Chi, its the best exercise program for old people ever. Really, billions of old folks in China and the US can't be wrong.
Bikes are good if you do it all the time, and hiking, particularly over terrain like up the side of Mount Hood a little bit or something. You do live in just about the greatest hiking area of the world there Virgina Marie. Get some good shoes (I think there is a company right there in Portland makes shoes just for that) and start walking. A lot of the people on this board, who've lived in one place most of their life, have a hard time imagining how beautiful it is to hike in the area you live in, how lush and deep the forests are, how rugged the coast line is, how the mountains dominate the horizon. Hell, I think its beautiful and I spend my life in SF and Sonoma and Marin counties, that's how awesome it is up there. You can hike around one of the most recent volcanoes in the world, how cool is that?
For your mind or my case what's left of it, puzzles/thought games, reading/writing and conversation seem to make all the difference. Playing cards is great because it's a puzzle thinking deal, and its conversational as all get out. Do crosswords or Sudoku. Talk to people.
*But how do you deal with it and age gracefully*
You don't if honest.... and baby-boomer in nature like myself....
Inside still a young-at-heart optimist...with an outer shell that is increasingly high maintenance...lol
I'm 53 in April....(bugger).... but have been able over the last 9 months to opt for some interventions/tweaks... so on Tues I have a MACS face-lift to help limit the future damage in my 60s....
As I was advised to do by a talented surgeon mate some decades back, do it only once, do it best you can, and ideally betwixt 50-55 years of age... but not so you look odd, weird or different... which can happen if you pick a less talented Dr....
I also take supplements, limit alcohol and have never, ever smoked ciggies... which damages skin long-term for sure...
At the mo i'm 100% fit and healthy with only occasional rheumatoid aches, usually post skiing or sailing if I allow myself to get too wet/cold...
But I take tons of glucosamine, which is one supplement that does really work!
Also maintain the best diet food quality I can... and date a toy-boy!
(you are what you eat)....defo!!
Happy ageing kids...
Quote from: Cruelladeville on January 23, 2011, 09:12:59 AMI'm 53 in April....(bugger).... but have been able over the last 9 months to opt for some interventions/tweaks... so on Tues I have a MACS face-lift to help limit the future damage in my 60s....
You're young yet. I'm 55 in April...
I guess what I'm kinda trippin' on is the fact that I will be turning the big 50 this year...
LOL... How the hecks did that happen? :laugh:
I do take vitamins and exercise and most folks think I'm younger than I am... Folks that know I ride my bike on the icy winter roads really trip when they find out my age
Thank you all again for your replies... Maybe we can start a "Young at heart" gals club :laugh:
Quote from: Virginia Marie on January 23, 2011, 02:52:56 PM
I guess what I'm kinda trippin' on is the fact that I will be turning the big 50 this year...
LOL... How the hecks did that happen? :laugh:
I do take vitamins and exercise and most folks think I'm younger than I am... Folks that know I ride my bike on the icy winter roads really trip when they find out my age
Thank you all again for your replies... Maybe we can start a "Young at heart" gals club :laugh:
What about us young at heart guys?
Get your own club >:-) Just kidding :laugh: Yeah, probably an all inclusive young at heart club would be a better idea
*Hugs*
Quote from: LordKAT on January 23, 2011, 10:42:34 PM
What about us young at heart guys?
We absolutely love you guys.
Can us younger ladies chime in too? I guess at 49 I am perhaps a bit on the younger end of the Older gals category. I have been told forever that I don't look or act my age. Once a year, like clockwork, that number seems to go up, but I am fighting a kicking and screaming to keep the rest just as it was the year before.
I have recently had people say I don't look over 35, when I was 35 people swore I wasn't over 25. Maybe if that math works out then when I'm 60 I should look about 40 and I should look my age by the time I'm pushing 75. Did I mention I'm 49? :)
Hard work, not thinking about getting older, holding out puberty as long as necessary to get it just right. I should be hitting 13 by the end of the year, I expect. Good eating helps too. Yummy food.
That's it Deanna, throw out enough numbers and we will all forget that you are 35 but celebrating your 14th anniversary of being 35. No matter, I'm still 35 too. I even share the anniversary so we can be 13 together. What?!, no pigtails to pull and only freckles to play connect the dots with. Grow some pigtails will ya? I have an inkwell someplace, I'm sure of it.
Got to wonder about them freckles.....
I survived cancer in 1985. Every year is a privilege - even if life is uncomfortable, it is precious. And every year is a victory.
Kendall
Quote from: LordKAT on January 24, 2011, 12:20:45 AM
That's it Deanna, throw out enough numbers and we will all forget that you are 35 but celebrating your 14th anniversary of being 35. No matter, I'm still 35 too. I even share the anniversary so we can be 13 together. What?!, no pigtails to pull and only freckles to play connect the dots with. Grow some pigtails will ya? I have an inkwell someplace, I'm sure of it.
Got to wonder about them freckles.....
Oh, LordyLordy! Someone get LordKAT a painting class so that he can move beyond painting by numbers - using my poor freckles. I think I might just be able to pull off the pigtail look. A little tall for a 13 year old girl, but hey I'm aging by Dee_pntx's rules.
Silly boys, pickin' on us girls. (keep it okay?)
I wonder what the 'best' age was for people? Ok tomorrow sounds pretty good at the moment :laugh:
Ignoring my GID issues. Teens were no fun at all. I liked 20-25. Early 30's OK. didn't like being forty. Hated being 50, I totally rejected a 50th b'day party (sorry Virginia, I'll come to yours :-*). I'm sort of content with mid 50's. Not too sure about 60's.
I do remember crying soulful sobs when I realised I was the wrong gender (early teens). It's OK I kept saying, I'll be dead when I'm thirty, no one can let me live longer than that.
Oh Well
Cindy
Quote from: Virginia Marie on January 23, 2011, 02:52:56 PM
I guess what I'm kinda trippin' on is the fact that I will be turning the big 50 this year...
LOL... How the hecks did that happen? :laugh:
Pffft 50 smishty. 50 isn't old Virginia, it's just approaching being nicely warmed up.
THIS is what a 50 year old woman who had a trans childhood can look like without makeup. As you can see I still have plenty of miles in the tank yet! Apologies to those who may have seen this in another thread but it seems kind of extra relevant here.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.static.flickr.com%2F5083%2F5377554285_ac3df810a7.jpg&hash=01c2e816c127a6e1ab00866031e1e4a7d59d65fc)
OK who used the airbrush?
Sorry doll you look great.
Just being rude, insulting, unfeeling and nasty. Just me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Hugs my friend
Cindy
Quote from: CindyJames on January 24, 2011, 03:34:59 AM
OK who used the airbrush?
Sorry doll you look great.
Just being rude, insulting, unfeeling and nasty. Just me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Hugs my friend
Cindy
In actual fact incredibly it is completely un manipulated by any means. That is straight out of the lens. ;D
Thank cindy! :laugh:
Quote from: CindyJames on January 24, 2011, 03:34:59 AM
OK who used the airbrush?
Sorry doll you look great.
Just being rude, insulting, unfeeling and nasty. Just me :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Hugs my friend
Cindy
Quote from: rejennyrated on January 24, 2011, 03:38:01 AM
In actual fact incredibly it is completely un manipulated by any means. That is straight out of the lens. ;D
Thank cindy! :laugh:
Now behave both of you. No gettin personal on the forums. Or we spanks you Both! :icon_poke:
hehe
Hugs Simone
PS My application to be a moderator is in the mail.
PPS put in a good word for me and I'll spank you with a feather duster instead!
I can verify that Jenny's photo is the real deal. No retouching at all. ;)
I don't know, when your young there's no end as you age you see a line drawn in the sand. Each day can be as great as the previous one or as great as the next one.
OK ... This is a pretty old thread, but I guess I might as well 'fess-up that I might qualify as one of the "older gals". I'm now 64, and perhaps my avatar shows me to be starting to look like an old woman. What can I say? My dad used to say ... "Don't complain. Take a hike through a cemetery and see how many gravestones are for people who haven't made it as far as you have!" (Not even counting places like Arlington ...) ... So we just grow old as gracefully as we can, keep active, get out there and engage in activities (like square dancing), and enjoy the fact that we're still here! Roberto
Quote from: stephaniec on December 27, 2013, 11:39:56 AM
I don't know, when your young there's no end as you age you see a line drawn in the sand. Each day can be as great as the previous one or as great as the next one.
Quote from: Roberto on December 27, 2013, 01:15:41 PM
OK ... This is a pretty old thread, but I guess I might as well 'fess-up that I might qualify as one of the "older gals". I'm now 64, and perhaps my avatar shows me to be starting to look like an old woman. What can I say? My dad used to say ... "Don't complain. Take a hike through a cemetery and see how many gravestones are for people who haven't made it as far as you have!" (Not even counting places like Arlington ...) ... So we just grow old as gracefully as we can, keep active, get out there and engage in activities (like square dancing), and enjoy the fact that we're still here! Roberto
Yes, old thread, but good topic. At 62 I'm a lost cause, but still working at making things better. Bad back, terrible arthritis, and hearing in one ear is 50%, and 80% in the other. Plus I have the aging skin of a person my age who worked outside for 40 years. Oh yeah, and I've needed glasses for 15 yeasrs. (uncorrectable injury in the left eye and eyesight is fading in the right)
But none of that matters because I feel like I'm 39 again, and it's like all the aches and pains are from nothing more than an aggressive day of sking or something. So I keep my meds on schedule, take a few vitamins, and switched to fresh fruit and vegie's rather than deserts or candy. It's not nearly a perfect fix, but after loosing a lot of weight this transition is going to be serious fun, in addition to fulfilling.
K
Sigh. BD number 66 is here in a week and a half!! A few days later I go back to being 1 again though!!
Quote from: Vicky on December 27, 2013, 04:24:25 PM
Sigh. BD number 66 is here in a week and a half!! A few days later I go back to being 1 again though!!
Well Vicky, I may be early but ... :icon_birthday:
I might as well join in I am 10 weeks short of 64 and started HRT on Christmas day ! :)
I'm 51 so I'm a just sneaking in to the group.
Staying young? Keep learning, keep playing, keep dancing, keep singing. Oh, and take your vitamins...
Hugs,
Jen
Since my wife died 6 years ago my transgender feelings have come back. After fifty years or more I now dress and go in public often. I tell myself I must be crazy doing this at 66 but I do feel comfortable and relaxed when presenting female. My gender therapist is helping me sort this out, so maybe being older doesn't change the facts?