Slow down

Miss Spain Angela Ponce is the favourite to win Miss Universe 2018 which is set to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 17. The 27 year old model will be the first ever transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe.

MYTH: Youth rules and old age stinks. We must maintain our youthfulness at all costs. 

I am 54 today and I can tell you it represents an awesome time in my life. I've paid my dues for wisdom and learned how to be comfortable in my own skin. I can create a higher quality of life - and pursue a fun companionship that have eluded me in my younger years. Living life fully built  on the many tough lessons I have learned and is symbolized by my wrinkles and grey hair. I worked hard to earn these distinguished characteristics and so I wear them like medals of honour.

The truth is, most of us dread getting older. We would trade almost anything to be thirty or forty again. Why do many fear middle and old age, rather than embrace this wonderful stage of life?

The lessons of maturity involve an ability to accept the imperfect, put a higher priority on companionship and live in the moment. Understanding and accepting that I am in the last third of my life makes every day more precious. I now have different values, and quality of life becomes more crucial. The need to slow down, relax and enjoy recreation and relationships takes on special significance. My aging body brought about this realization.

The part of aging that involves pain, deteriorating bodies and facing our mortality isn't easy to work through. I would never say that all of the changes should be celebrated.

In our busy world, our lives have a habit of gathering momentum of their own, plunging forward, with or without our consent. I am learning to slow down and access life. We cannot control the pace of innovation and work, but we can help our bodies to weather the storms of change.

The world is full of men and women who work too much, sleep too little, hardly every exercise, eat poorly and are always struggling or failing to find adequate time to spend with their loved ones. We are in a perpetual hurry - constantly rushing from one activity to another, with little understanding of where all this activity is leading us.

Slow down. Breathe deeply. Reflect deeply. Pray deeply. Live deeply. 

Listen to my advice, not because I am always right but because I have more experience being wrong.