Is it really though? I find myself pondering this idea quite often. Sure, The Stones made a great song off the idea. And our society definitely plays into it. Nowadays you can smooth age away with creams, suck it away with surgery or you can just Botox those wrinkles to bloated, younger-looking skin.
I used to dread my birthdays. I still do. Would I drink from the fountain of youth if such a miraculous spring existed? Hell yes.
Society puts pressure on us--mainly women--to look young. Why in my early twenties do I feel like I'm shriveling up? This should be my prime. This is my prime, right?
These questions remind me of a line from "Just Friends." (Yes, I've seen that movie. You can smirk all you want) At one point Ryan Reynolds insults Amy Smart by saying she's the girl who 'peaked in high school.'
That line still gets me.
What I find hard to swallow is that I've already been on this planet for 23 years. True, I am proud of a lot of stuff I did. I feel like my presence has made a difference. But at other times, usually when I finish reading someone else's story, I feel like I have little or nothing to show for my time. Christ, even Lil Wayne was getting press at 16.
Now I'm not looking for consolation or affirmation that my life is worth something, I know it is. It just amazes me that aging perplexes me so. It's surprising and depressing to think how quickly time flies by. I've lived in Gainesville for nearly three years, but I still feel like I'm just getting to know the place.
I'm not really sure how I can ease my mind on this whole aging thing. There's a part of me that can't wait to see what the future holds, but I don't want to rush it. For such much of our lives we're just preparing for the future. With all that prepping, how can you enjoy the present?
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
-John Lennon
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