When you think about it, being young at heart is a state of mind. 
What’s so great about midlife mindfulness work is that you learn that we have way more control over what we think than we might expect.
Thoughts about the way you think about age is a great example of this; you can be 18 and be OLD at heart or 80 and be YOUNG at heart.
Definitions of “young at heart” include things like being emotionally young and young in mind and spirit. Maybe even bold and spunky. What do you think of as “young at heart?”
Thoughts you might be thinking about your age
The thing is though, that while many of us work hard to become keenly aware of the way we think about our age, we can’t help but “catch” ourselves sometimes thinking thoughts like this instead:
- I don’t look good anymore
- Everything is falling
- There’s weird lines between my eyebrows
- My body is different
- My neck looks crapey
- My face looks wrinkly
- My boobs are saggy
- My hair makes me look old.
- I look way older than I used to.
- I just don’t look the same as I did.
So crazy, right? Of course you don’t like the same as you did…
You’re OLDER and WISER!
Think of all the stupid stuff you did when you were younger. Sometime you don’t even want to be completely transparent about your youth with your kids who are the same age now.
It was that bad.
And…the whole aging thing gets such a bad rap. If you weren’t aging, you would be DEAD!
You don’t want this result, but you fight so hard against embracing what is natural and evidence that you’re still breathin.!
But this isn’t the only reason we need to really think about our thoughts about aging.
Notice how these thoughts listed above make you feel.
- sad
- hopeless
- unmotivated
- less than
- washed up
- depressed
All lovely, right? It’s not your age that makes you feel this way. It’s your thoughts about your age that create your feelings. Those thoughts!
Remember, this really is the great news about thoughts, my friend.
They are subjective.
They are sentences up there in your mind.
And they can be more intentional than they currently are.
So if you don’t like how you’re feeling about your age, check your thinking.
Take a look at what’s going on up there.
And decide on purpose if you like it.
Your thinking, that is.
If you like the way it makes you feel or not. And if you don’t, you can tweak your thoughts to one that makes you feel the way you WANT to feel.
Want some help thinking about yourself as young at heart? Here are five interesting ideas that just might help you out!
1) Be open to trying trends: Toe Rings
When you’re open, you’ll notice more things to try and also FEEL more positive about trying them. This is what happened to me with toe rings. I saw my younger sisters wearing them and was intrigued. I had no clue about things like this, fun trends and all. So I tried one! And I couldn’t believe how much fun it was to think about doing something cool like this. It totally changed the way I thought about my age and what I made it mean, especially regarding fun fashion statements like this.
Trying a trend for size every once and awhile is a good idea to keep you thinking about yourself as young at heart. It doesn’t have to be a toe ring, but something fun that you associate with being youthful, not old and boring.
2) Have fun with beauty: Magnetic Eyelashes
We all don’t care about beauty in the same way, that’s for sure. And that’s OK. You might care about your hair more than make up. Or you might love perfume, nail polish or fancy soaps and creams. It doesn’t matter. But what when you think about yourself as someone who is young and fun enough to enjoy “beautification,” it can have interesting results.
For me, it happened with magnetic eyelashes of all things. I saw an ad for them on Facebook and became intrigued. It was so strange and I couldn’t resist clicking through and seeing more. I watched a video.
I couldn’t resist. I purchased them.
When the package came, I ran upstairs and read the directions. I laid them all out and proceeded to try to put them on. TRY being the operative word.
I struggled. I dropped them. I watched another youtube video. I tried again. I cracked up. I tried again. And then I realized that to do anything this tiny, I needed my reading glasses and you can’t put on eyelashes when you’re wearing readers! Therein lies the problem….so I basically gave up but had a good time trying. I will try them again, another time. I’m fascinated with the whole thing.
I have to tell you, I loved every girly giddy minute of trying these stupid things on. I really wanted to try something new and pretty. When it comes to beauty, i think it’s the worth the effort to try something new and have fun with it. Whatever floats your boat – hair, lipstick, eye makeup, nail polish, creams, perfumes, whatever. Notice how you’re thinking about spending time and money on such a thing and how those thoughts make you feel.
Ask yourself, does your version of being young at heart include having fun with beauty? If it helps you feel something that’s in line with your belief about being young at heart, you’re on to something good!
3) Laugh your head off
This idea is short and sweet. Keeping a sense of humor is amazing for you when your goal is to be young at heart. Do what makes you laugh more regularly. Go to comedy, hang with fun friends, appreciate silly moments, allow yourself to let your hair down.
Do it. It’s worth it.
Notice how it makes you feel. How can you deny yourself that?
4) Say yes to more things
In my mind, I believe that when you’re young at heart, you smile, you’re open, you try new things. When you’re the opposite of young at heart, you don’t.
So, what that can mean is saying yes more often. Think about it….when you say yes, you put yourself in the space to be more spontaneous. That proves being young at heart in my book.
And…make sure to notice if you’re resistant to saying yes because it’s a huge opportunity to see what you’re actually thinking.
Why don’t you want to do it?
Why don’t you want to go?
Is it because you’re too tired? You’re too old? You don’t want to look stupid? You won’t know anyone?
Interesting, right? What if you said yes?
Saying yes often be a good thing and more times than not, you’ll have a good time. It usually means you’re doing something new. You’re changing it up. You’re putting yourself out there.
You’re opening yourself up to opportunities. All things that can help you think in a way that creates that youthful feeling that comes from thinking about yourself as being young at heart.
5) Keep learning
Learning new things helps your brain stay more youthful and helps you feel excited and interested. There’s even research to back this up. Learning and wanting to learn is something that’s part of being young at heart.
Do you want to be a person who keeps learning?
You might even say it makes you feel alive because when you learn new things, you have new opportunities, you challenge yourself, you meet more people and improve yourself. All great ways to be young at heart.
How you THINK about your age matters.
When you THINK one way, you feel youthful. When you THINK other ways, you feel old. You get to choose.
Once you focus on wanting to BE young at heart, your brain will help you come up with other ways to do it. When you start with this thought, it’s easier to ask yourself HOW you’re going to feel youthful, not IF you feel youthful.
Stigma about aging is everywhere.
Ageism is a thing. You have to be keenly aware of how your actually entertaining thoughts about all of it or before you know it, you won’t be walking the walk of someone who is young at heart.
You can totally do this.
You just have to be on to your amazing self to see what you’re actually thinking.
Want to be more young at heart yourself?
Start by getting in on the SECRET! Get 9 Secrets to Get Unstuck in your 50s!! CLICK HERE: www.suzyrosenstein.com/9secrets
