What’s the secret of youthfulness? I am 51 years...
— Anonymous reader
The secret to youth is energy. If you have energy, you have youthfulness or else you don’t have it. Where does energy come from? To the body energy comes from strength. You’d better at least have decent muscles, good lungs and a supple spine. At 55 I can still beat a gym-toned 20-year-old in arm wrestling. I can still do 50 pushups. I can and do walk eight kilometres cross country everyday. That is just the beginning. I can and will do a lot more in the years to come. You can and will actually get younger with each passing year. That’s a promise you should make to yourself.
To the mind, youthfulness comes from flexibility. That means don’t get opinionated, never pass judegments on others, and above all, learn something new everyday. Respect the tastes of youngsters instead of criticising them. The first time I heard Industrial Rock music it sounded like my skull was being bashed in. After a while I began to appreciate its raw energy, its integral sadness, learned to link it with self-expression. Then there’s synthpop, electro-pop, Euro-pop, there’s J-pop and K-pop. There’s rock, alternative rock, indie rock and a zillion other genres. You’d do better to hear some of them, and while you can always say ‘bro, this one’s not for me’ you’d do good to feel them out. Once revulsion and regret get replaced by wonder and wow, know your mind has become young again.
To your self-esteem youthfulness comes from laughing at the guy in the mirror, complimenting him for his assets and overlooking his liabilities. It’s a trick of missing the obvious, and a certain blind spot in the right place can make a heady heaven out of mere earth.
My kids make fun of my baldness but I have never been able to notice it. My friends tell me about how old they feel, but somehow I forgot math after the age of 25, found it very tough to count beyond... max up to 26 maybe? What else?
A bit of gratitude, friend. To your maker. Works wonders on your soul, keeps it ever young and shining. God bless.