Can we control Aging and Time?

When should we worry about Aging and Time?

From the moment a women is pregnant, the age questions begin and almost become an obsession. It starts with weeks when pregnant and become months once the baby is born and soon become years in a very short amount of time.  The obsession with age seems most apparent during child bearing years for women and when men become fathers. Parents compare their children to other children based on age in size and life skills, from language, intellect to self care and family life. We become obsessed with the notion of what is expected and accepted by certain age stages in life. It becomes persistent as one begins to crave normalcy and acceptance within a society or groups of communities.

The process of aging is experienced by everyone, young and old. Age and time can not be controlled. Is it the unescapable nature of aging that have encouraged our obsession with it? Chemists, dermatologists and beauty seekers have made professions by trying to create the miracle creams, using technology and nature to reverse aging, yet the body always ages within its own capability internally, even if the external body and face don’t show signs of aging. Aging in adulthood, is usually evaluated by comparing ourselves physically, socially, financially at different life stages.

Age in essence becomes an obsession with time. How much time do we have left? Is packing every hour with activities the best use of time? Is waiting around for events and experiences to happen to us the best way to spend our time? Ideally, it is the quality of the time spent that adds value and direction to our lives. Quantity of experiences just keeps us busy without a greater goal or direction.

Age helps to acknowledge the birth and death of living things and people close to us. We can choose to overlook the number but it is difficult to ignore and avoid the natural loss of physical strength that comes with aging. It seems most of us set a timeline for ourselves with important life events and moments we hope to experience based on our frame of reference, our families and those who we grew up with, to societal expectations and the media. The media has tried to unify age appropriate experiences and the expectation of what is next. It is this expectation of knowing what to expect next that gives people a safety net and meaning to their lives, whilst for others they seek a different way of life based on their unique life experiences, wants and needs.

Witnessing life makes one think of death and accepting death as a guarantee that will happen. What age should we die? What age should birth be given?  At what age should we earn money? What age is the right age? Medical experts will want to evaluate the physical self while psychologists evaluate the mental self. Yet both are affected with age. It is only up to ourselves to determine what is the right way to live our life with taking into consideration the needs of others. After all, we do live together