ON TURNING 60…
Ok so today I and my zodiac twin Ajup complete six decades of existence on planet earth.
Yes, we’ve officially turned sixty.
All the best for your ‘hexa phase,’ console my friends.
As if I haven’t entered the sixties, I’ve been ‘afflicted’ by ‘em.
As if I was binging on decades.
For decades. And wound up with this unceremonious condition as a punishment.
As if now onwards I’m going to be in the eternal grip of Covid. Or Monkey Pox. Or whatever’s currently trending on the pandemic’s threat-to-life menu. 😐
Oh I feel fine I tell my friends.
Just a bit wobbly on my feet.
Walking around holding sooo much past inside me.
Aah, we’re not sixty. We’re sexty. Quips Ajup. In a bid to cheer me up.
But I’m not amused.
Reason №1:
I find the word sexy a tad cringeworthy.
Any derivative thereof (like sexty) carries a whiff of cringe too.
Years ago I replaced sexy with ‘sesky’ in my vocabulary.
Reason №2:
I don’t wish to give Ajup credit for baptizing my sixties with a neologism that’s a misnomer.
At least in the conventional sense.
Because the world still equates the word sesky with physical attributes.
My seskyness, meanwhile, has gleefully abandoned my body and moved base to more fertile pastures. My brain. My attitude. My spirit.
Coming back to being sixty. I feel a gush of poetic flush…
The wings of my spirit
are restless to fly
In a bigger, brighter, more
knowledgable sky.
So YAYYY.. bring It on!!
Because today, truth be told, I feel way smarter mentally. Way stronger, emotionally. And way brighter, intellectually. Than I did in my reckless twenties. Cashless thirties. Relentless forties. And careless fifties.
Bodily I can’t say I feel ‘fitter’ than before. But yes I feel as energetic. As agile. And if health is wealth, I feel like a million bucks!
I’ve even made peace with the odd wrinkle(s) here, the even(tual) bulge there. It’s nothing my DDG trio (discipline, dermat, gym trainer) can’t help keep in check.
Being 60 doesn’t scare me one bit. Not getting to be sixty perhaps would!🤪
What does scare me is people’s expectations (or rather lack of them)of a sixty-year-old.
Also their moth-eaten ‘should & shouldn’t list’ for my tribe:
Sixty-year-olds shouldn’t do fitted clothes.
Sixty-year-olds shouldn’t run up the stairs.
Sixty-year-olds shouldn’t do pencil heels.
Sixty-year-olds shouldn’t climb trees.
Sixty-year-olds shouldn’t dance in the rain.
Sixty years shouldn’t post stories on FB, and reels on Insta 😛
And then the shoulds…
Sixty-year-olds should feel over the hill.
Or at least over their prime.
Or maybe just ‘over’!!
After all there’s a reason why you’re called a senior citizen once you’re sixty. Don’t mess with that reason.
Cool down down down.
Calm down down down.
Temper down down down.
All the way down, down, down.
To the backwaters of geriatric town.
As we kick you around like a circus clown.
It’s a fact that our aging patterns are very different from our parent's.
It’s a fact that as chronological age-spans head north, we’ve succeeded in snatching a decade (or two) of biological youth from the clutches of aging.
Conventional wisdom says that at sixty you should feel low on energy. High on the pill. Under the weather. Over the hill.
It’s another matter that conventional wisdom itself is over the hill now.
So here I am. More like over the moon. Over the top. Top of the world.
So if you’re looking for tips to slow down your inevitable journey ‘over’ the hill, I’m giving away my two cents for free. You can thank me later.
Conventional wisdom says abstinence is easy. Temperance is hard.
I say BS.
Abstinence is ill-advised. Temperance is the way to go.
At 18, I weighed two kgs more than I weigh today. And some roadside Romeos unchivalrously called me Humpty Dumpty.
Since that day, I’ve been on a diet.
A perpetual, sempiternal diet.
It’s the one diet that’s always kept me fit.
And it can effortlessly fit into anyone’s routine.
My diet is called, not Atkins, not Keto, not intermittent. It’s called Common Sense.
I never skip meals or avoid sweets. Just tweak the quantity of what I eat. Sandwich tinier portions of carbs and sweets in bigger portions of greens, and white meats.
The result? No deprivation, no cravings, no binge-eating. And life remains sorted.
Conventional wisdom says slow down. You’re a senior citizen now.
I say BS.
Don’t just sit there. Move, move, move.
You’re only as old as you feel.
If you’re 60 but feel 20, you look 40.
If you’re 60 and feel 60 too, you look 80.
If you’re 60 but feel 80, you were cremated before cows became more important than humans in India.
So think young. Age joyfully. Be a joyspotter.
Seek out delight in small things. Play with pets. Chat with children. Flirt with your companion. Jog in the park. Tend to your plants. Write a poem. Embroider a tapestry. Sing a song. Play the piano. Solve a puzzle. Watch a comedy show. If nothing else, bust the bubbles off a bubble sheet (believe me it’s a great stress buster).
Conventional wisdom says going for anti-aging treatments is an exercise in vanity.
I say BS.
If technology today can help reduce signs of aging, I’d be demented to not make use of its advantages.
If we can proudly show off our gym routines, our detox visits… why this hush hush around skin rejuvenation, or botox, or fillers?
Own up your anti-aging efforts guys.
Go ahead and try any arrow in the quiver of rejuvenation that works for you or floats your boat.
It’s funny how we always want more of everything in life.
Wealth. Health. Happiness. But less candles on our birthday cake. Always!
More money is good. More happiness is good. More passion is good. So why should more age that comes with more intellectual growth be bad?
As we get older, we need to realign our goal post. From clinging to youth. To nourishing our joy. And keeping alive our inner child.
Remember people such as friends, family, colleagues… and elements such as art, colour, plants can enrich any life.
They can also refeather any empty nest. Into a nest of possibility. A nest of creativity. A nest of delight.
🍃
Never have I had
an imagination
more passionate,
and fantastical
nor a temperament
that feels
more ready to achieve
the impossible
— Puja Bhakoo
🍃
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