Youth Obsession
How many times have I heard the same old chestnut when I ask a prospective client how old they are: ‘I’m — but all my friends say I look twenty years younger and I wouldn’t dream of going out with a man less than ten years younger than me!’ Single women spend hours convincing themselves and their friends how young they look for their age and as for men, they also knock five to ten years off their age so who’s kidding who? Getting older is a fact of life; it’s how we deal with it mentally that counts.
One of the problems with growing older is that we remember how our parents looked at our age and compared to them we probably look a lot younger. There again when I look at photos of my grandparents and great grandparents they looked positively ancient compared to modern standards. We tend to forget that better medical and dental care, greater knowledge of the dangers of smoking and alcohol, better eating habits, modern beauty aids, treatments and different fashions, all help to make us look younger than our forbears.
Although we all age on the outside most of us feel the same inside as we did in our late teens and twenties. We don’t grow up inside! Therefore when we reach any particular age we can’t believe it because we still feel so young and compared to our mental picture of what someone should look like at our age we are convinced that we look younger than the norm. Well I’m sorry to tell you but in my experience the people I meet look their age; they look the right particular age for the 21st century!
Many people fear getting older and becoming less attractive to others, so they become desperate to hide their real age. They feel that having a younger escort will fool people into thinking they are more youthful and more attractive. There are obviously exceptions but on the whole I think they ridicule themselves. In my opinion if a single person wants a long term relationship then they need to be with someone with whom they can converse with similar life experiences. It may be fun to start with but will that partner want you when you’re collecting your bus pass and they want to party all night in nightclubs.
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!’ Lying about your age may seem irrelevant to some people but what happens when you want to go on holiday together and he/she reads your passport date of birth? You will have proved yourself to be a liar and sown doubts in your partner’s mind; how else are your trying to deceive them?
In my experience people are attracted to those who are happy and confident with what they are. It may be an old cliché but beauty really does come from within, it’s the most powerful tool of attraction there is. After a while most men tire of painted bimbos and most young women will tire of aging lotharios!
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a good thing for people to take care of their looks and to keep as young and healthy as they can; most of us would like to be healthy and active until a ripe old age with all our ‘marbles’ intact!
However why can’t we stop this obsession with age and accept people for who they are. This should apply in the work place as well. If someone is right for the job let them do it whatever age they are; if they can’t keep up with the pace then look elsewhere.
Many parts of the world revere age and maybe it’s about time we did. It’s time for everyone to ‘out’ their age! You’ll find it a liberating experience and far less stressful than lies.