Aging with grace, or as someone on the call articulated beautifully – “maturing with age”, is a journey we must embrace! April Cole talked about her struggles with getting older after losing her mother in her early 30s, and grappling with the fear that came alongside this tragedy. April recalls wearing a ‘mask’ where she looked great on the outside, but inside she was suffering. April finally saw a psychiatrist who introduced her to meditation, and that changed the game for her! Now she’s living her most authentic and unapologetic life at 60! April says we struggle with the acceptance of aging for two reasons: (1) there’s fear and mystery behind growing older, (2) we as a culture have a preoccupation with our appearance as we age, which is an Americanized mindset. Here are the key lessons we learned from 60-year-old April who is living proof that aging with grace is possible:
- Don’t say you’re never going to do or accomplish something. Doing something for the first time later in life is just as sweet as doing it when you’re young!
- Look in the mirror and tell yourself, “You look good girl! Thank you for this body.”
- Work on your inner dialogue to reframe how you’re thinking about things.
- Connect the dots to understand why you behave the way you do.
- Write down everything you want to fix about yourself in your journal while still loving yourself.
- The way you take care of your body now will have lasting effects later in life, so start caring now.
- Fix the issues you’re dealing with now before you’re forced to deal with them at 60.
- Work with your therapist to help you unpack the trauma you experienced in the past.
- Be okay with being alone.
- Stop hiding what you’re feeling. Seek help!
- Make a diagram of how you’re feeling at every age.
- Be patient with yourself and take it one year at a time.
- Focus on surrounding yourself with the right people who truly love and care for you!
- Make working out a top priority!
- Have things to look forward to and you will feel happier!
Other gems shared from the Flower Girls:
– Youthful people keep you youthful.
– Look at your family history to see what ailments your family has and work to protect against those things.
– It’s hard to accept some of the things that happened to us when we’re young, but if we don’t do it now, it’ll be worse later.
– Face aging with humor and fun experiences. It’s not all bad!
Overall sentiment: Don’t suppress your emotions, grief, or any hardship you’re experiencing in your life right now because as you get older, those things just become more unbearable to deal with on top of accepting the aging process.
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