Aging

The first few weeks after starting residency, I started to notice the numerous strands of graying hair on the right posterior side of my scalp.  It is always the spot where new gray hair appears.  I would pull it out, in a way to defy the fact that I am getting old.  It would grow back in the same spot several weeks later.  

Many people do similar things as they age- anti-age cream, botox, face filler, face lift, skin tugs, wigs, etc.  People do all sorts of things to themselves, looking for the magic solution to aging, so their physical youth can stay the same.

Looking at my own reflection in the mirror nowadays, I do notice the subtle changes over the last 10 years, perhaps accelerated over the last 8 years from intense medical schools and the lack of sleep/stress during residency.  The fat on my face disappeared.  Sometimes my eyes appear more sunken than normal, and now, I have these tiny bags under my eyes and tiny lines at the end of my eyes when I smile.  I lotioned and creamed my face, but I don't think these things really work.  To be blunt about it, I think it is all marketing- targeting people's fear of aging.

Is aging that bad?  Is a face that has lines and wrinkles ugly or less beautiful?  What's wrong with aging?

I don't think it is bad, nor does it equates with ugliness.  There is nothing wrong with aging, except for the potential debility that comes with it when one becomes frail.   

I see older persons on a daily basis because of work, but I never really consider them to be "ugly".  There is also nothing bad about it.  These individuals all have so much to offer.  Each line on their face tells a story- some tell you the hard life they had when they were younger, others tell the story of an avid outdoor explorer, and some are simply the story of domestic lives.  There is nothing wrong with aging.  It is simply a part of life.  

Some fear it like it is the end of the world and end up living an discontent life.  Many of the times, I notice that those who fear it are younger or those who just start to recognize the changes to their bodies.  Others embrace it and/or allow natural to take its course, and these folks are perhaps much older.  Most of the older persons that I've met seem quite content with the ways they are, or at least, they no longer fight it.  I sometimes wonder if there is a age threshhold or a time in one's life when this revelation finally occur to them and they end the struggle to fight aging, but rather to walk with it.

I think when one goes with the flow of time and accepts it openly then one gets to appreciates life better.