My friend MaryJane always gives me a hard time when we talk about my age.
"You look really good for a 60-year old!" she said recently. The truth is, MaryJane is in her early 70's and she looks terrific! She can pass for a woman in her 50's.
We both have good genes to thank for. I believe that having that advantage plus living a lifestyle that is devoid of abusive habits like smoking and drinking have allowed us the benefit of defying and not looking our biological age.
As I love to say, age is just a number. We can look as young or as old as we feel. There have been many times when I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Lucky me, I was blessed with a healthy sense of humor and can laugh off anything that comes my way.
Many women get paranoid when it comes to revealing their age. I think it's pure nonsense to keep one's age a "military secret." Everyone should live an authentic life and hiding one's age is almost like living a lie.
When I was in my 50's I worked in a workplace where my associates were in their 30's. The 20-year age difference was never a negative factor. I always blended seamlessly because I never allowed "mid-life crisis" to get in the way of work performance. In one company I worked for management preferred hiring mature women for the obvious reasons. Older ladies have developed the discipline desirable to employers and don't easily crack under pressure. They show up and do the job!
Many years ago, I worked with a woman who was a few years from retirement. She told me that for as long as she had to work for a living, she would color her gray. She was under the notion that companies had hiring preference for young people and she had to do her best to keep her competitive edge.
Well, I may not totally agree with her mentality, but I have taken her advice. My gray is perpetually taken care of by some brunette concoction. If I didn't follow her example, everyone will not have a problem believing my age. Thank God for Clairol!
"You look really good for a 60-year old!" she said recently. The truth is, MaryJane is in her early 70's and she looks terrific! She can pass for a woman in her 50's.
We both have good genes to thank for. I believe that having that advantage plus living a lifestyle that is devoid of abusive habits like smoking and drinking have allowed us the benefit of defying and not looking our biological age.
As I love to say, age is just a number. We can look as young or as old as we feel. There have been many times when I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Lucky me, I was blessed with a healthy sense of humor and can laugh off anything that comes my way.
Many women get paranoid when it comes to revealing their age. I think it's pure nonsense to keep one's age a "military secret." Everyone should live an authentic life and hiding one's age is almost like living a lie.
When I was in my 50's I worked in a workplace where my associates were in their 30's. The 20-year age difference was never a negative factor. I always blended seamlessly because I never allowed "mid-life crisis" to get in the way of work performance. In one company I worked for management preferred hiring mature women for the obvious reasons. Older ladies have developed the discipline desirable to employers and don't easily crack under pressure. They show up and do the job!
Many years ago, I worked with a woman who was a few years from retirement. She told me that for as long as she had to work for a living, she would color her gray. She was under the notion that companies had hiring preference for young people and she had to do her best to keep her competitive edge.
Well, I may not totally agree with her mentality, but I have taken her advice. My gray is perpetually taken care of by some brunette concoction. If I didn't follow her example, everyone will not have a problem believing my age. Thank God for Clairol!
