Off limits

Why is it that when you hit middle age so many of lifes most wonderful things are suddenly off limits? Ice cream has too much cholesterol, actually everything that tastes good has too much fat, and the sun is bad for our skin, making us look older and more wretched than we already are. There are dietary restrictions and warnings about all kinds of dangers lurking around every corner where we never would have imagined them before, and even our clothing has to be re-examined, lest we apper to be "dressing too young" or "trying to look like someone half our age". Even my make-up had to be adjusted a few years back because heaven forbid I look too harsh in the light with my newly altered skin tone and texture. I give up, you know? We spend our lives trying to "get it all down", to figure out what works for us, how we like things cooked, what we love to wear - and here we are having to re-think all of it simply because we are a little older. And what is the magic age anyway? When you turn 40? 45? 50? 55? I give up.

I think my grandmother had it right. Do what makes you comfortable and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. She was wearing dresses to her ankles when we were wearing minis in the late 60s and thought she was hopelessly out of fashion. Surely she could shorten them a little I thought to myself! But now I see she was right. She was happy the way her legs were covered and she just didn't care what anyone else did or said.

I wish I had her confidence. I'm working on that. And in the meantime I keep changing my look - softening the make-up, eating what's good for me, and generally trying to be "young" while actually moving quickly toward "old".

As Grandma used to say "Life is grand if you don't weaken!"