Last week I saw an old friend whom I had scandalously lost track of. We calculated that we hadn't seen each other for a rough fifteen years and needed at least an hour to catch up a bit.
She told me about her sports regime, I about my non-sporting, my short nights (because of a lot of work and three alarms that go off every morning at half past six without me having to do anything for it) and my daily glass of wine. Or two.
When I got back in the car, she sent me a text. That it had been so special to see each other again and that I, especially for someone who travels a lot, doesn't exercise and drinks, still looked really good.
Of course, I was happy with the compliment, but one little word kept echoing in my head. Just; still.
The point is that when you reach a certain age, you no longer just look good, but you ‘still look good’.
Is it meant that you still look just as good as you did then, but we all know that this could end any day? Or is it meant that you actually don't look good anymore, but when you associate that with your extremely high age, the end result is still not too bad?
When you pass the age of forty, your age is firmly linked to the grade you get for your looks. If you look fantastic at fifty, it could very well be that someone mistakes you for a beginning forty-something with an old face. But if that person knows you are actually 54, you suddenly seem to have turned out really well.
My best friend Anna (nine years older than me and unfairly beautiful) recently gave me the best tip. “Always round your age up significantly. Then it still seems a bit with that appearance.” She has been saying since she was 43st that she was ‘approaching fifty’ and always drowned in the ‘but how then’-compliments.
I will also start using that tip from now on. I am no longer 42, but almost 45. And further, I should just be happy that I am in the ‘still’ phase. Always better than the ‘You won't believe it, but once, long, long ago, she was quite a beautiful woman.’
After much pondering and thinking, I just decided to be happy with every kind word. For as long as it lasts. To aging! May it last a long time.
