Thoughts on Aging

Yesterday I went visiting teaching to a girl in my ward. Somehow we got on the topic of age. She is probably 4-5 years older than me and is one of the leaders in the Young Women's program. She mentioned that people don't think she looks old enough to be one of the leaders. She then asked if she should do something differently-like wear more make-up, buy more mature clothing, do her hair differently, act different etc.

This got me thinking... What is it about age that makes all younger people, so desperately, want to be old and all the older people want to be young again? Why can't we just be happy with how old/young we are or how old/young we look or even how old/young we feel?

Why aren't we ever content with who we are or where we are in the stages of age and life?

Part of the reason must be that our human nature never fully allows us to be content with who we are, what we're doing in life, how we look etc...

Basically, I don't have an answer. That's the best part about these entries, I don't have to. I can just randomly throw out rhetorical questions!

I couldn't just pick one quote today, so here are a few of my favorite quotes on aging:

"Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind." -unknown

"The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything: the young know everything." -Oscar Wilde

"Age should not have its face listed, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character." -unknown

"The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you're learning you're not old." -unknown

"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age." -Sophia Loren

"At the age of 20, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all." -unknown