Tag Archives: youth

How to Grow Old Gracefully ~ Part 2

Posted on by
Image
My Sweet Gramma Tweter – 80 years old

To Grow Old Gracefully:

Be comfortable in your own skin from the inside out. Nobody is perfect. In fact, our imperfections often set us apart from the crowd and endear us to others. Lauren Hutton has a cute little gap in her teeth. She probably hated that as a child, but it gives her distinction.

Are you satisfied with what is going on inside your body? Do you have unresolved conflict with a loved one? Are you tormented by the abuse or trauma you suffered as a child? Seek counseling; become more comfortable with who God made you to me and resolve those inner conflicts.

Don’t fight your age – embrace it. I wouldn’t want to be twenty again. I might enjoy looking twenty, but I wouldn’t exchange it for all the lessons my forty-seven years have taught me – and
I certainly wouldn’t want to relive any of those ‘lessons’.

My gramma made peace with her age. As I look at the skin on her face, I don’t see wrinkles, I see the family we share, the places she’s been, years of wisdom, and a life well lived. The small amount of
wrinkles on her skin have always been irrelevant to me.

Take care of your body. You only get one; you can’t trade in it every few years for a newer model. If you abuse your body with lack of exercise, or over indulgence, it will show wear and tear. Feed your body nutritious whole foods, exercise your heart, drink plenty of water, and use daily moisturizer and sunscreen. Care for your soul with prayer, spiritual nourishment, rest and times of quiet reflection.

Growing old gracefully is more than just looking good on the outside – it comes from the inside out. When you fill yourself with grace, it will be evident on your face and in your life.

Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen.

– 2 Peter 3:18 (CEB)

Read part 1 HERE

How to Grow Old Gracefully ~ Part 1

Posted on by
Image

Parrish Family Photo 1994

When I turned thirty, I wrote an article about growing old gracefully. Was that really seventeen years ago? It seems more like seventeen months. I’ve never been hung up on age. I don’t care who knows I’m forty-seven. Maybe it’s because ever since I was child, I’ve always done things early.

When people tell me I don’t look old enough to be a grandmother, it’s really not a complement, because I’m not. I married my husband when I was eighteen. I gave birth to our eldest when I was nineteen and our youngest was born when I was twenty-one. When my son was in high school, he used to tell everyone my age when he introduced me. “Because I don’t want anyone to think you had me in high school.”

We live in an age-restricted community. You have to be forty-five to live here. My mother-in-law lives with us and my parents live two houses down. I think I’m the youngest one in this community. There are nine who are under the age of sixty; most of the residents are in my parents’ age group.

So in nearly every group, I’m one of the youngest, which helps me feel young.  Someone reading this who is older than me will say, “You ARE young!”  But a younger person might say, “Whatever! You ARE old.” So we can establish that age is relative and feeling old or young is a state of mind.

Part of aging well is genetics. Either you are blessed with good genes or you’re not. You will probably age as well as your parents. My dad’s father had blond hair until he was about eighty and then it seemed to turn overnight. My dad is about to turn seventy-five and he has just a touch of white around his sideburns. I love this because we have the same hair. Each year that my dad stays blond, I cheer because I’m anticipating my hair will respond just like his.

So what does it mean to grow old gracefully? Is plastic surgery OK? Is it wrong to dye your hair? What does God think about Botox? Please join me as I explore all of these questions and more over the next few weeks.

Part 2