Getting older and wiser

I'm in my early 40s now and, I noticed a few changes on my face and, hair. Some mornings, my face is very puffy. There are definite lines here and there. Apparently, they are called wrinkles. Trying to recognise one's face in this old face is an act of courage, I must say. 

My hair has thinned out a lot and, I realised my eyelashes are not as thick and long like before. So much for tresses and, beautiful eyes. 

But grave jokes aside, I have generally enjoyed getting older. I've also embraced all the physical changes and, used it to my advantage. One can always point to one's white hair to make a point: "Do you think I have white hair for nothing?" "Do you not see my white hair? Do you take me for a fool"? "Is this the respect give me" and, then I point to my white hair. 

In another glorious moment, at one of the Literary Festivals in Pakistan, I was asked which session I was part of, which implied that by merely having silver hair, I was mistaken for a writer. 

But things do creak and crack a lot more, like an old contraption. One can pretend to be tired and old.  

One can't eat and eat without abandon but, there's no advantage to that.  

So anyway, what I really wanted to say is that it is easy to fall prey to the beauty industry and, buy expensive creams and shampoos and conditioners and face gels and night creams and day creams and anti ageing creams and face washes and rest of it. Especially if you spot a wrinkle or two. 

I don't have any particular advice but for taking care of hair and taking care against dry skin, I find oils to be cheap and, effective. Humans have been using oil to rub into their skin and hair for thousands of years. Why stop now? 

There are so many oils you can find at your pharmacy , produced by local companies which are so cheap and, so good: coconut, sesame, mustard, almond, castor, etc. I mix oils and, oil my hair twice a week at least. And, use oil to rub into my face and body. Nothing like to keep your body soft and moisturised. I use creams too. I don't know if they help or not. But I know oil is good and does really help. 

Everyone will age differently and we can't really stop the process. We can only aspire to be healthy and, exercise, good sleep, good conversation, a relatively balanced and guilt-free diet will give help us to feel good. 

We can never look like we did in our youth. We will look different. Anyone thinking otherwise is chasing stupidity, honestly. 

One has to embrace getting older and, accept it. Not run away from it. And, to stop wasting so much money on beauty industry products in the hopes of not looking older. 

For that is not very wise. 

Who wants to be older and stupid? Don't raise your hand.