Saturday, December 29, 2007

Real Age Resolutions


My entire life I have been very baby-faced.  I always wished that I looked older than I did.  I felt that perhaps I wouldn't be taken seriously given the young-looking shell I came in.  People always gasped when they found out that I was actually 25, not 18, or 30, not 20ish.  Now, some of this could have been that people were just being kind, but usually I felt it to be authentic.  

I've prepared myself for these comments.  I respond with such things as " It's not in the birthdays you've celebrated, it's the wisdom, and experience that counts."  

But here's the thing:  I haven't really received these once-dreaded compliments lately.  Now it's, "Oh, you're 31.  Mmm-Hmm."  Just as I suspected. 

What happened to the, "Jamie looks so young" comments?

I know that I *am* in fact young.  I savor the time ahead still, I do.  But it's someone else's turn for the baby-face comments.  Maybe parenting has brought me some more lines and wrinkles (which I cherish), but that doesn't take away from the fact that I guess I miss the shock on people's face a little bit.

And here's the real zinger:  I went to RealAge.com a website designed to calculate your age based on lifestyle/nutrition etc.  and damn-it  my actual age is 31.4 years and my "real age" is 32.1, a difference of 7 months.  Older.   

So I guess I need to take my vitamins, have a few less drinks, and maybe even eat more vegetables.  All very timely for the New Year.  

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