On Getting Older: A Series: In Which I Am Determined to Keep All My Teeth

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I will be turning 35 this year. I thought I’d write about it, mostly because I wanted to do something to commemorate this point of my life, not to celebrate reaching this age, but to put into record my state of mind while in this phase. I want something I can look back on when I am old and clammy, while at the same time remind this present self of getting here.

Each decade we live from 10-20-30 and so on, I would assume consists of an aging spurt, kind of like from the growth spurts we encounter in adolescences where physical changes are most noted. I read it in a study, aging spurts are “rapid shifts in perspective” (Donovan, 2015). Which makes sense as each decade takes us into a different stage in our lives, the experience of aging, how it “is shaped in the living of it.”

When I started thinking about writing this, I just really wanted to talk about what I have learned so far now that I am turning 35. But it has led me into all the other aspects that concern my getting older. So forgive me if this will come in parts, and to start, I have to address the elephant that is the physiological.  

Physically I am starting to get an inkling, with strength and endurance not as at par as I felt in my younger years. I wasn’t dainty or fragile growing up, I dare say I was even more active than some boys or bigger kids I knew. But these days I recognize that there are things that are limited to what my body can do without complain in the past, not to mention that being diabetic isn’t really contributing either – but that fact about me is for another time to discuss.

It’s hard to deny, although I wish it wasn’t a big deal, how skin care, beauty, and physique is a factor to consider as a woman. It isn’t a feminist thing, but for instance, I understand how important it is to have fair and supple skin. In the Philippines, a marketing brand of a cosmetic clinic has owned the word, “flawless”, pertaining to a close to perfect complexion, with gorgeous celebrities at its helm, promoting this ideal of beauty. And while I do not subscribe to such endorsement, I believe that a healthy skin is also a sign of a healthy body.

And then there is the actual wellness, as teenagers our metabolism is at its peak, where BigMacs are no big deal, we lose the calories like its nothing, the energy to work and play for as long as possible isn’t a hindrance. I think I am beginning to realize that exercise isn’t my thing, I’m afraid I don’t have the discipline nor do I find enjoyment in putting my body to the test, just so I can have nice abs. I like swimming because its relaxing, it has the same effects as jogging, but I hate jogging. Nevertheless, as with the skin, I know exercise is necessary, not for the aesthetics of it, but for the being healthy of it.

And like the hints my joints subtly gives me from time to time, alas I have a few ageing spots here and there. I never liked wearing heels, and I held off for as long as I possibly could, only ever wearing them when it is absolutely mandatory, and yet still, the varicose veins have manifested, not that bad, but they are there.   

Full disclosure, if there is one thing, I am very concerned with, and that is my teeth. I am determined to keep all my original ones for as long possible. To be clear, I don’t care if they are crooked or imperfect in a way that I did not have braces installed to align them, but I still want to be able to chew well in my old-old age, and that requires a healthy set of dentures. So there’s that.

If you ask me, perhaps you can postpone it by being the most caring of your looks, eating as many avocadoes (or actually putting them on your face), the truth is inevitable that beauty fades with our youth. And I’d like to believe that many women in the world today are just like me, who are okay with this. I don’t mind losing my looks as I grow older. I am kind of curious to see myself as I age.  JG looks a lot like his dad, so I have an idea, but I look like my dad too, so it’s kind of hard to imagine judging from a genetic point of view.

But it’s the other things that concern me physically, the longevity and effectiveness of parts that assist in things that I love to do in life. Like the use of my molars, I wish to be able to read as much as I can without the help of spectacles, I wish to be able to walk long distances and continue travelling at a good pace, the energy to move furniture around when I don’t like how my living room looks, its hard for me to write with a pen for longer now, but I wish I can type with hands well into the geriatric stages of my life so I can keep writing.

I know I still have time to enjoy all this, to work on such apprehensions so that I can continue to do so for a long time. But while I don’t mind losing my looks, these are the things I know I will struggle to come to terms in letting go, as it will inevitably happen, the second law of thermodynamics and all that.

Entropy aside, on a more serious note, Cancer is a major concern this day and age, as it gets closer and closer to home. As far as I know there is yet any rhyme or reason as to who it hits, or which organ it affects. It’s in the back of our minds until someone you know gets it. They tell you that a healthy lifestyle is key, and yet you hear about cases of people in the prime of their lives struck. The guarantee of defeating it is a feat some can proudly account for; Cancer-survivor is an automatic distinction, a badge of honor I think is definitely well deserved. It is a contemporary fear society has today in terms of health. And it’s not easy not to succumb to such fear. And in times when such fears are entertained, suddenly having good skin, nice abs, and complete set of teeth becomes minuscule in comparison.
I'm not really sure what I'm getting at with this. Like I said I just wanted to lay it out there, since I feel our bodies and our health is an important aspect in terms of getting older. It is after all the temple of our souls, the physical, actual, tangible proof of our being. 
Many of the studies and explorations on getting older are mostly attributed to our bodies and the uses of each part as it slowly starts to give-in at old age. But these are also to point mostly exploring geriatric concerns, and in this stage of my life, while I am yet at the precipice of old age, it is somewhere on the other side of a mountain. I am not there yet, but it's a distance where I have to think about. I have no plans of defying it, in terms of health and physiology I would just like to be strong enough to enjoy the slow fall when I do get there.