How can we age well in a society that makes us believe in eternal youth and promotes performance and efficiency? How can we accept slowing down and growing old? Here are 7 tips for ageing in peace, to be read at any age.It means that we see all things in life with the pink filter of love. Everything is embellished by the filter of love. Love is magic because it makes everything in life beautiful.

1 – How to age well: don’t isolate yourself

When we go through difficult times, we all have the same reflex: to believe that it’s only happening to us, that we’re really unlucky, that nobody can understand us.

And yet, we all have hard times, every day. And when it comes to old age, it’s even truer. Yes, everyone ages (laughs).

Yes, I decide to laugh about it, don’t you?

That’s why my advice for aging well is to stop isolating yourself. In other words, stop believing the lie that it only happens to you.

In fact, look around you, everyone’s getting older every day. So breathe. It’s something that connects us.

Yes, don’t think that just because you’re getting older, you’re going to be alone. So reach out to others who have the same problem as you: the passing years (laughs).

2 – Take a more positive look at your past life

Getting older makes you a bit grumpy (laughs). Yes, we tend to look back and remember only the difficult moments and unpleasant surprises of life.

And that’s why getting older scares us too. Yes, we’re afraid of leaving this world without having been truly happy.

What if we were to change the way we look at our lives?

Yes, you’ve been through difficult times, maybe even very difficult times, but know that you’re not the only one. What’s more, understand that difficult times don’t come to sink you, but to make you stronger.

So, I invite you right now to take a moment to look back and transform all the difficult moments you’ve experienced into lessons: what have you learned from others and from life? How did you become stronger?

Then, take another moment to list all the beautiful things life has offered you. List at least 10 moments!

Because aging well means taking a positive look at your past, and being able to see life’s beautiful moments and lessons.

3 – How to age well: forgive

To age well is to age in peace. In other words, it’s essential to learn to forgive.

First of all, to forgive ourselves. Then, to forgive others and life itself.

First of all, what is self-forgiveness? It’s about looking back on our mistakes and telling ourselves that we did the best we could. It’s true, you did the best you could. Even if you doubt it, even if you’re ashamed. You did the best you could at the time.

Indeed, it’s easy to look back on a past event with the wisdom of the moment. Of course, today we’d do things differently. But do you know why? Precisely because we’ve made mistakes in the past. We’ve learned from that mistake. So, rather than feeling guilty, we could feel more humble and grateful.

The choice is yours.

Next, aging well is about forgiving others. Just as we do our best at every moment, so do others. So let go and forgive.

Understand that you may need to forgive more than once. Just do it!

And finally, it’s about forgiving life. Yes, sometimes life hits us hard on the head and we don’t understand why. What’s more, we find it unfair: why us, and not others?

It’s only natural. It’s unfair, it’s true.

Yet, here again, you have a choice to make: either you continue to choke on your sense of injustice and grow old grumbling about your bad luck (laughs), or you decide to see life’s unpleasant surprises as lessons, opportunities to become stronger, more humble, more compassionate too.

4 – Doing things you love

To age well, it’s essential to understand that it’s never too late to be happy. It really isn’t!

So I wholeheartedly invite you to move forward. Not to let your sadness of yesterday and your fear of tomorrow prevent you from living your present as joyfully as possible.

That’s why you need to bring joy into your everyday life. Invite it everywhere, all the time and into every area of your life.

Allow yourself to smile, even if your past is painful. Allow yourself to smile, even if tomorrow scares you.

In fact, aging in peace means allowing yourself to be happy right here, right now. So don’t worry about how others look at you, don’t worry about your past or your future, just think about the joy of the present.

In practical terms, adopt this simple rule: never end a day without doing something you love for at least 5 minutes!

I’d like to go even further. What if, in order to age well, it was important to chase your dreams? Yes, it’s never too late to make your dreams come true.

That’s why I wholeheartedly invite you to make room for your dreams in your daily life, so that you can move towards them little by little.

Because aging well means feeling that we’re giving priority to the things that really matter to us: our dreams, our passions, our desires.

5 – Become the person you want to be

Aging well means stopping harboring regrets. It’s about stopping looking back and saying, “I should have done that, said that, been more like that or less like that.”

Because by criticizing the person we used to be, we prevent ourselves from being the person we want to be.

Stop bothering the person you used to be (laughs) and become the person you want to be now!

It’s never too late!

6 – How to age well: don’t avoid the young ones

When we get older, we tend to tell ourselves stories that hurt: “I’m old, so I’m not interesting.

What if you stopped listening to this horrible belief?

What if you had fun believing the opposite: “I’m old, so I’m super interesting”.

But be careful to listen to and respect the younger ones (laughs).

What’s important to understand about aging well is that society leads us to believe that when we get old, all we have to do is hide in a corner and keep quiet.

But that’s not true. The problem is that if you unconsciously believe that because you’re getting older, you’re becoming less interesting to people younger than you, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

After all, everything you believe becomes reality. So, really, have fun believing the opposite.

Besides, if you think about it, the older you get and the more stories you’ve lived, the more anecdotes you have to tell. That’s why I think you have a place among people of all ages. Speak up.

7 – Agree to slow down and accept your body

Modern society moves fast, very fast. That’s why the older we get, the more we feel out of place, because we slow down. The body slows down, but so does the mind.

The body becomes more painful and you start to walk slower than others. Your head gets a little fuzzy, and you become less “efficient” in the eyes of society.

Yet aging is natural. It’s universal. It’s human!

So it’s high time we let go of the beliefs and demands of a society that wants to turn us into DOING machines, and become a human BEING again.

That’s why, if you want to age well, it’s important to accept that you need to slow down, that your body needs to change too, so that it no longer corresponds to society’s models of beauty and health.

In any case, look around you. Not television, films, advertising and social networks, look at the people around you, in the street, look at everyone aging.

It’s up to us to be happy as a human being, a real one, who ages and changes. And not an illusion that society lulls us into.

Be you. Be old, be old. Smile. Be happy. That’s the best answer you can give to the society that makes you so uncomfortable.

Besides, it’s your life. It belongs to you. It’s your body. It belongs to you. And it’s up to you to love your life and love your body.

It’s your choice.

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Turning the page on your past: 5 simple exercises
Discover Feeling beautiful: 7 tips for everyday life (for all ages)

I recommend this inspiring book:

Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development by George E. Vaillant
In Aging Well, George E. Vaillant draws on decades of research to reveal the key elements that contribute to a fulfilling and satisfying life. Through the lens of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, Vaillant explores the factors that lead to successful aging, emphasizing the importance of positive relationships, adaptability and a sense of purpose. The book offers practical wisdom and evidence-based advice on how we can all age resiliently, approaching the final stages of life with grace and satisfaction. A comprehensive guide for anyone seeking to navigate the aging process with a focus on well-being and fulfillment.

It’s a thoughtful book, based on serious research, that forces us to think deeply about our own perspective on life in the very long term.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself