What do Pat’s Protein Pancakes; moisturizers, wrinkle creams and eye creams by Revlon and Olay; and Dr. Atkins’ Diet have in common?  These and dozens of other products are labeled by their creators as “age-defying.”  I recently purchased several products from the Olay Age-Defying line-up.  One item was supposed to remove age spots in as little as six weeks, to my way of thinking a great way to defy aging.  However, it has only two weeks to go and I’ve concluded that it’s going to have to work extra hard to meet its deadline. Since I started using these products, I’ve been thinking about what it means to defy age.

Defy, according to Merriam-Webster Online means “willingness to contend or fight.” My iMac’s online dictionary characterizes defiance as “open resistance” or “bold disobedience.”  Now let’s think about this.  Maybe baby boomers are “reinventing aging” by keeping physically active, staying engaged in their communities and eating right.  But what are the chances that any of us will successfully resist aging?  We may be willing to fight, but I don’t think disobedience will get us very far in this particular battle.  Dying young is the only alternative to aging, which suddenly makes aging a highly desirable condition.  I hope I will come to accept and appreciate impermanence and the natural changes that will occur as my face and body age.  Meanwhile I will extend the deadline for my “spots remover.”