Are You Still Looking Good As You Age?

We know that stress makes us look old. Decrease the stress in our lives (good luck) and our skin improves. Yes, yes, yes…..we already know that.

Think about managing stress, not eliminating it. Management is a good coping skill; it just takes practice. Avoidance is a bad coping skill, which we are much too good at. Stress is everywhere and we need a certain amount to function. The stress of waiting for Christmas is much different than the stress of waiting for your father to arrive home to view your not-so-stellar report card. A haggard, fearful face does not present well to a father expecting better grades.

But stress is not the only thing that makes us look old. Antidepressants age our skin, as does smoking (duh) and sun exposure. Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, did a study on facial photographs of identical twins. They wanted to know who looked older, and why. What they discovered is that stress, depression, smoking, and sun exposure make us seem older than we are. Who wants that?

It’s up to each of us how we look: wrinkled, craggy, weathered, run over, toughened, used up.

Or: radiant, stunning, fabulous, kind, fresh, open, active.

I don’t mind my age. I certainly do not want to appear older than I am, and I don’t mind anyone thinking that I am younger than I am. It isn’t that I am vain, which I am, it is that I want to look as good as I can for as long as I can. And function just as well. They go hand in hand.

The only person who goes to Arizona in July and doesn’t go in the sun is me. I know about sun and wrinkles. I don’t need a tan; I just want to be warm. Smoking is something I never took up, and that leaves stress (eek!) and depression (groan). Managing both is a skill and a process that I am working on, and by being less stressed and combating depression, I move with more freedom and I am more active. And oh yes! I look better.

That’s Aging Intelligently.