Age is just a number?

t’s a cliche — “Age is just a number.” And that is supposed to make you feel good?

I’d argue that age isn’t just a number. Age is actually a determinant of your supposed mental state. Have you ever heard people tell you, “ang tanda mo na, ganyan ka pa rin mag-isip?!” See? There’s a certain expectation when you age. You should be able to think differently. You should be wiser as you age.

As you age, your body also responds to the number. I mean, obviously you’d look older. You’d gain weight. For men, you’d start to lose hair. You’d have to start eating less and exercise more. Your mind will start to outpace your body. Imagine you think you can still do that cross-over move? You tried, and while you “thought” you’re about to do that shoulder fake, your hand lost the ball because it didn’t respond fast enough as before to what the mind commanded. Ganyan pag tumatanda.

Lastly, age is a reflection of your supposed accomplishments. I mean, for most, you know that at a certain age you should be accomplishing “this much”, yeah? You have a goal — professionally, personally, for your family.

Saying that “age is just a number” is an excuse. It’s just to make you feel better. Because honestly, for most, aging doesn’t make you feel better. You feel you have not accomplished enough, not wiser, and uglier as you age. So, let’s call it as it is. Aging doesn’t feel good.

The key to enjoy aging is, as what Simon Sinek proposes, “find your ‘why’ and focus on in”. Or as what Rick Warren asks, “‘What on earth am I here for?”

What on earth am I really here for? To accomplish things that will make me feel important? To know everything? To be the fountain of youth? What on earth am I here for?

Until you figure that out, you’d hate aging.

PS. Written in the morning of being 46 years old :D