Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been. ~David Bowie

We’ve been thinking and talking about what it means to be ‘youthful’ recently. We believe that the key to being youthful is to have a long-term, sustained focus on being healthy. Live Inside Out is one of the Rumblings 4 Rocks (foundational principles) to Flourish After 50.

• Go inward to live authentically outward

• Look inside to determine what and how much you eat

• Recognize the joy of the journey

• Eat whole foods, mostly plants

• Be grateful for your body’s capabilities

• Enjoy what you eat and your daily movement without guilt or judgment

• Honor tradition

• Celebrate culture

 Even with our focus on health, we have experienced body changes as we age, such as a slight thickening around the waist, difficulty maintaining our weight, more wrinkles, muscle aches, and symptoms of menopause, to name a few. 

Women discuss the impact of these changes and nostalgic memories of how we looked in our 20s, 30s, and 40s with friends. We share tips and tricks for looking as young as we can - or as good as possible for our age. Yet, there is one part of aging that we may not discuss as commonly—the abundance of messages that our aging bodies are abnormal and we should fix them.

Individuals and organizations are competing for our attention and our money by selling promises of happiness and youthfulness. Their message is, if we conform to the culture of ‘thinness’ to fit in, we will have value and be worthy. It’s as if somehow aging is unnatural or makes us imperfect, so we must succumb and prioritize anti-aging. 

Media bombards us with images of unrealistic and unachievable ideals for a youthful appearance.  It would be hypocritical to imply that things like facials, overpriced skincare, or even injectables and fillers are the enemy. Still, the emphasis that aging is somehow a personal shortcoming or character flaw diminishes our value to what is superficial and appearance-related. 

Yes, our bodies are imperfect, and they sometimes let us down. As we age, our bodies may be less cooperative and cause us to struggle to stay thin and fit, or even simply healthy! 

One of the most beautiful things about aging is the opportunity to shed those superficial expectations of society and the media and instead step into the person we know we have become. 

We don’t need to fight against our bodies as they gracefully do what bodies do - age. Our bodies are not the enemy. The changes during midlife don’t make us diminished, less relevant, or even disgusting. 

There are social movements focused on body inclusion, body positivity, realistic weight, and promoting physical strength for girls. It’s now time for a movement of accepting aging too. 

We can shape the future of societal norms surrounding aging, particularly in women. We can demonstrate by example that our worth as we age is not defined by unrealistic and unattainable superficial beauty standards any more than it should be for our younger daughters, granddaughters, and nieces. 

We don’t have to accept aging trends focused on how we look, how we dress, our skincare, and our makeup routines. We can age by design, in our way, as we choose. 

If we focus our efforts instead on the approach to Live Inside Out, we can not only be grateful for our body’s capabilities; we can take that next step and embrace the process of fully stepping into the person we were becoming all along. 

Embrace all of the lumps, bumps, and wrinkles that represent a well-lived life. We have come by all of these ‘imperfections’ naturally - and they are perfect. We are creating and becoming a ‘well being’ - a healthy, inside and out human body, one that is more than our physical appearance. 

Our main goal should be to be healthy in a whole-person way, not to stay looking young, but to live well. Life is good, and midlife is the middle, not the end. It’s a new season that we can design to thrive and flourish. 

Living inside-out is a sustainable well-being approach and is the real pro-aging ‘secret’ for feeling youthful and thriving after 50!

To learn more about the Rumblings 4 Rocks (foundational principles) to flourish after 50 and receive tips, tools, and techniques to thrive, sign-up today.