Better with Time (International Day of Older Persons)

According to a calender I was looking at recently, today is the “International Day of Older Persons”. It made me wonder, how old is an older person? 

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Granny would fall under this category, she is 101 years old. Granny could have been one of the “Golden Girls”, but with more class. I am pretty sure my mother would fall under this category as well because... well, because she's my mother, which makes her older (I won't state her age because I'm pretty sure she reads my blog). But then to my horror I realized that I may fall under this category. Quite a few people would consider me “older”. My Sunday school class would. My children and all of there friends would. In fact, it would be a reasonable deduction to assume that anyone younger than me just might look at me as an older person. Since I am considered a “Baby Boomer” ( just barely) that leaves a lot of people thinking I'm older.


But isn't it interesting that many of us “older” people sort of mentally associate ourselves with a younger age. How many times do we hear someone say, “ I still think of myself as '30'”, in spite of the fact that they are actually 63. I'm not 63...yet, but, in spite of my actual age I would say I still think of myself as, oh about 27 ½. Then I realized, that to stay 27 ½ I dress like a 27 ½ year-old. The question is, do I dress like I did when I was 27 ½ (which would be an entirely different decade... or two, also meaning entirely different fashion statements) or do I dress like a 27 ½ year old would dress today?

All of this contemplation made me take a nostalgic walk through my closet. I needed to know if I had become a fashion hoarder.  I found things in my wardrobe that were hand me downs from my grandmother; which made me wonder if I was dressing like my grandmother did when she was 27 ½. I ruled that one out. I had this odd feeling that when I went to sleep I would have unsettling dreams of Clint and Stacy from WHAT NOT TO WEAR going through my wardrobe, saying things like, “Get rid of this, my mother wore one of these when she was 27 ½.”

I decided my wisest recourse to the situation was to change the age I associate myself with to a more realistic number like... 35.  I am pretty sure I have enough styles in my closet to pull off a 2012 35 year old look. Now, all I need to do is dye my hair back to its natural color and maybe I can almost look my new age.

So, what age are you stuck in mentally and why is it that age? Give me some tips on how to age gracefully both inside and out. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for reading.

Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand, TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.