A Personal Journey: Aging

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a personal reflection on the aging process - particularly of being a woman, especially a forty-eight-year-old woman in America today. It begins by listing the positive and negative aspects of aging and then provides a personal reflection on the process. The paper describes the impact of Christianity in the writer's acceptance of her own aging.

Table of Contents:
Good Things About Aging
Bad Things About Aging
Reflections On My Personal Aging Process

From the Paper:

"One of the reasons I think that I have been able to tolerate aging so well, psychologically, somewhat in contrast to other members of my culture, is because of my strong Christian faith. Christianity tends to focus on spiritual refreshment and renewal from within, rather than seeking solutions from without. I have always had an awareness that 'the body dies, eventually' but the soul is eternal. In God's eyes, I have always believed, we are all young when compared with the age of the earth and eternity, and also, somehow, all old because death comes very soon on the mortal plane, while from the perspective of the divine, what is really important and lasting is attached to the soul. What is most important to me is what I am learning on earth, here, not what I look like in terms of my body. That is why when I see young people making the same mistakes I made when I was in my teens, twenties, and thirties, and know I won't have to make those mistakes again, the feeling is relief, as well as a sense of pride in my strong sense of self and the personal and financial independence I have gained that I did not have when I was younger. I have also lost many of the hang-ups I did have when I was younger, because I know that according to my culture, now I will never be 'the ideal,' in terms of beauty, so I can accept my appearance and even see that for younger women, the dominant beauty standard is highly unrealistic."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kolata, Gina. "Staying a Step Ahead of Aging." The New York Times. 31 Jan 2008. 12 Feb 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?_r=1&scp=12&sq=aging&st=nyt&oref=slogin
• Roberts, Yvonne. "Forty is the New Fifty." The Observer. 23 May 2004. 12 Feb 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/may/23/britishidentity.focus
• Singer, Natasha. "Skin deep: Fountain of Youth? Go Wash Your Face." The New York Times. 27 Dec 2007. 12 Feb 2008. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E2DC1239F934A15751C1A9619C8B63

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