When I was a girl, someone once looked at me gravely and said, Youre no longer of that age.
At first I didnt grasp what they meant. Excuse me, what does that imply? I asked.
They answered as if the answer were as plain as day: You know its no longer time for flamboyant dresses, raucous laughter, dancing, singing and carefree joy as it once was. Now you must be more modest, more tranquil, grownup.
I kept my silence, not out of offence but in astonishment at how readily people draw lines where none exist. Then I smiled, turned inward, and said calmly, Ive never read a rulebook that tells a woman when she must cease being herself.
For who decides the moment a woman should stop laughing until tears roll down her cheeks? Who decrees the age at which a bright red lipstick becomes inappropriate, or when one must no longer belt out favourite songs at full volume? Our calendars may add years, but they do not strip us of our nature.
The years behind me are manyfilled with ache, learning, and great happiness. I have witnessed triumphs and tumbles, loss and fresh beginnings. I am now differentnot older, but quieter, deeper, wiser. I have learned to value stillness, to listen to the beating of my own heart, and to understand that true youth lives not in a passport stamp but in the sparkle of the eyes, in delight at small wonders, and in the capacity to be amazed by the world.
I no longer need to prove my worth to anyone. I am not chasing a youthful façade; I simply wish to livetruly. I laugh when merriment fills me, I dance when a favourite tune plays, I dress in what feels right to me rather than what a lady of my years should wear. Most of all, I allow myself to be alive.
Life, after all, is not a stage where we perform a role dictated by age. It is a journey, each day a gift. How sad it is when folk deny themselves joy merely because someone has whispered, Thats no longer suitable for you.
It suits me to laugh when my soul is singing. It suits me to wear bright frocks even though I am not twenty. It suits me to be exactly who I am nowwithout excuses, without fear.
There is no such notion as the wrong age. There is only a momentwarm, genuine, alive. If you feel a light within, if your heart still longs to laugh and love, then you are living.
Now is my time to livetruly, without restraint, without shame, without shoulds and mustnots. No one has the right to decide when a woman stops being herself.
I simply exist. And each morning I tell myself, Yes, this is my age. The best one yet.
