How many times have you been told to act your age? My betting is that as soon as you were old enough to understand what age was, you were told to grow up and act your age! And then, as you matured, you started telling yourself that you either shouldn't or couldn't do something because "it's childish and you should act your age".

With that in mind, is it surprising that so many of us experience accelerated aging, growing old before our time?

Age is just a number. Age is nothing more than a means of measuring the number of years we've resided on this planet. That's it - nothing more and nothing less.

Sure, age can give an indication as to what the state of our physical and mental health might be, but it's far from a foolproof method. Just think of Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, Michelle Pfeiffer or Meryl Streep. Do their chronological ages give a true indication of their fitness or abilities? No, absolutely not.

How many 50 year olds do you know who are 'older' than Helen Mirren at 62 or Diane Keaton at 60.? Or what about 40 year olds who are 'older' than Olivia Newton John? Not to mention sixty year olds who are 'older' than Paul Newman at 80! Doesn't that prove that age is nothing more than a number that says little, if anything, about who we are and what we're capable of?

Although nobody can stop the aging process entirely, how old we appear is largely down to how we feel about ourselves.

Grow up and look younger

Contrary to what some believe, youthful people rarely suffer from Peter Pan syndrome. They aren't immature, irresponsible children living in adult bodies, they're people with a mature outlook on life but who choose to nurture their ability to live life to the full rather than sit back and use the aging process as an excuse to do nothing.

You'll never hear youthful people say "you can't expect somebody my age to be able to do…" or anything similar. If they choose not to do something it's because they have no interest in doing it and thats that.Age isn't something they see as a viable excuse.

Similarly they'd never force themselves into doing something just to flaunt their youthfulness; experience has taught them that they don't need affirmation from others in order to feel satisfied with their lives.

Cosmetic Surgery isn't The Answer

Cosmetic surgery isn't the key to remaining youthful, either. You can have as many face-lifts as you like but if your mind isn't fresh and vibrant, you'll still appear old.

Youthfulness comes from within. When you think young you'll automatically act young. The knock-on effect will be that others perceive you as being far younger than your years.

Stay in touch with today's trends. While nobody's suggesting you dress like a teenager - there's nothing quite as embarrassing as "mutton dressed as lamb" - by wearing what's now rather than what you wore ten years ago and keeping up with today's music and technological advances, you'll knock years off how you look and feel.

An anti-agingtechnique that requires nothing more than the right attitude has to be a good thing, surely?

Discover your true age

Next time somebody asks you how old you are, don't tell them. Instead, ask them how old they think you are. If you're pleased with the answer then your mindset is obviously tuned in to being youthful. If their guess is closer to your actual age than you're happy with then it's time to reassess your attitude.

You ARE only as old as you feel.

Sharon Jacobsen is a freelance writer living in South Cheshire, England. For a competitive fee she'll happily write compelling, well researched articles for your website, ezine or print publication.  To contact Sharon, please visit her website

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