The Heart Doesn't Age; It's Only The Skin That Wrinkles
They say that people don’t age when their skin wrinkles, but when their hopes and dreams wrinkle. The truth is that no one ages for having lived a certain amount of years, but rather when they put their dreams and ideals aside.
In the center of the heart, there is a place called love. Life is in the leaves that surround it, and its flowers are beauty, hope, happiness, and eagerness. Together they form a garden of experiences that we have to care for now and then, letting it reach its peak over time.
“Years wrinkle the skin, but only the loss of enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Sorrow, doubt, a lack of trust in oneself, fear of despair, these are the years that loom over the heart and lead the spirit into the shadows.
Whether you’re sixteen or fifty, in every human heart there is an urge to wonder, a gentle amazement at the stars, a defiance towards certain events, a childlike appetite for life.”
-Unknown-
Having seen more calendar pages doesn’t make us less capable of love, of fulfilling our dreams, or of enjoying our lives with a partner. It’s true that we acquire certain vices and manias over time that form a part of our personality. However, this is not an absolute negative, because knowing how to live through changes comes with age.
Where some see old age, others see the beauty of years passing. More beauty than that of a 20 or 30-year-old with a fresh face, rosy cheeks, and full lips. So forget about anti-aging cream, because getting older is inevitable, but aging is a decision that everyone makes.
Accumulating youth is an art
“Give me all the wrinkles. Don’t take any of them away. It took me a lifetime to get them.”
-Anna Magnani-
It doesn’t matter if you start to get gray hairs, if you see wrinkles on the most unexpected areas of your face, or if your body asks for a truce each morning. What is truly important is that you accumulate experiences and wisdom, that you know that growing up is obligatory, and that you don’t waste a second of your life.
The vigor of a young spirit is not only for the young. In fact, youth is not an age, it’s a state of mind. We strive to find the elixir of eternal youth when what we should be doing is seeking eternal vitality.
Adding years is the most beautiful thing in the world, because it means that we’re alive and that we still have the possibility to keep accumulating experiences and knowledge. Being young at heart means means that love and adventure will be everlasting, but with the temperance of character that contemplates life calmly and that is aware of the ephemeral.
What’s important is not adding years to your life, but adding life to your years
“Get old with me! The best is yet to come.”
-Robert Browing-
People who add life to their years have long since banished the words “I can’t” from their mind, and they know that age is not an obstacle.
They don’t find wrinkles on their hearts, because the soul doesn’t wrinkle, it only grows and enhances. Maybe our faces will be replete with marks of age, but our eyes will continue to transmit the brightness of someone who knows that life was made to be breathed in.
Never lose hope even when you lack strength. Make sure every year that passes leaves marks on your skin. Steal seconds to make every moment eternal and never relinquish the pleasure of remembering.
Treasure your memories, but don’t live in them. Face your present with strength and courage. Look back over the years, remind your skin where it smiled when you were enjoying yourself, have respect for and be captivated by life, because after all we’re enjoying a journey that we can’t return from.
