Stop aging today!

What a good headline, don’t you think? If anyone could bottle that statement in a liquid form…they would literally become rich overnight. The reality is that stopping the aging process is never (EVER) going to happen. I so would love to be a Dancing Queen, young and seventeen forever (thank you ABBA for that song), but it’s just not going to happen. I’ve always found that European women and especially French women (and men) have such a different approach to aging. It’s amazing how older French stars are still viewed as sexy even as they’ve aged. From Johnny Holliday (French super star singer born in 1943 and still rocking today) to Catherine Deneuve (blond bomb shell born in 1943) to Béatrice Dalle or Juliette Binoche (both born in 1964), they are still considered foxy as ever. The French Prime Mister had once said that if Johnny Holliday could still continue to work in his sixties (and look that good) so could the rest of France!

Funny enough, it’s been reported that Jane Fonda was considering a second facelift just before taking a little trip to Europe. During her Euro vacation something happened: her desire (or perceived need) to have a second facelift vanished. Reportedly, she said that if European women can age so well (and look so confident aging), so could she (and she is aging remarkably well…even with one facelift under her belt).

In Canada (thanks to our American cousins) we often think that life (and sex appeal) stop the minute we cross that 35-40 line. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problem is our media bombards us with direct and indirect messages leading us to believe that you can only be 23 ¼ and a size zero to truly be able to enjoy life at its fullest.

On a recent appearance on a daytime talk show, legendary actress Lauren Bacall laughed off Hollywood’s obsession “with extreme youth and stick figure like female leads” when asked why it was so hard for women past 35 to find good leading roles. I mean the hot-and-oh-so-sexy Demi Moore cannot find that many roles to play, as she revealed during an interview with Vogue magazine in 2005. This comment has also been supported by the likes of Sharon Stone and many other female actresses in their mid- thirties and up. It would seem that still today Hollywood’s view of a female moving from “girlhood” to womanhood is fairly outdated. Seriously, most Hollywood productions would make you believe there is no such thing as life after 29! I dare you to go one week without finding an article, magazine or entertainment show that doesn’t drill that message.

I’ve read many times that aging has little to do with our birthday and everything to do with our mental, physical and emotional state. But, I too was sceptical about these statements. My views about aging started to change with the number of very vibrant 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 something people I’ve meant in recent years. I’m not saying these people didn’t use certain topical anti-aging products or took particular care of their physical being and mental state of mind, but their approach to aging puts a whole new spin to adding candles on your cake with every passing year.

I’m surely no longer a 17 year old Dancing Queen, but as I age, I know that I can still dance, laugh, love (and even still look great) and continue to have the time of my life. When in doubt, I need only take a quick “aging well” trip to France or spend some time with the many sexy, gorgeous and vibrant 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 something people I know!

Here’s to aging well!