Aging, Anxiety, and Self-Acceptance: Why Getting Older Is a Gift

(gentle ambient music) Headspace Studio. (serene music) Hi friends, it's Rosie. Welcome to Radio Headspace. The other day, my cousin sent me an old photo of us. It was back in our early twenties at some party in East LA. I'm wearing way too much eyeliner, holding a solo cup like it was a Birkin bag. And I was giving the camera the serious side eye smirk that could only come from a combination of tequila and youthful delusion. And she goes, "Girl, we were so young. You look so different." Now, if you know anything about my family, you know, there's always that cousin, the one who doesn't quite mean to be shady, but always somehow manages to point out every flaw you didn't ask to be reminded of, the one who says things like, "You're brave for wearing that." Or, "Remember when your hair was so long?" Yeah, that one. Now, to her credit, we've had conversations. I've lovingly called her out before. We're definitely in a better place now, but I still had to pause for a second before replying because (sighs) that hit me in the ego just a little bit. And then I laughed because yeah, aging is weird. It's humbling, it's revealing. And sometimes it's downright unfair. There's this moment in your late thirties or forties when you catch yourself in the mirror and you're like, "Wait, who is this grown person?" But also, how lucky are we. To get older is a privilege, not everyone gets. It means we've survived. We've learned, hopefully. And we've lived. And the truth is, I do look different, but that's because I am different. I think about that 20 something version of me, how hard she tried to be liked, how much energy she spent trying to be perfect to prove herself, to blend in, to be chosen. Now I care about peace. I care about alignment. I care about being in bed by 7:30 PM. I care about comfy writing pants that don't lie. And friends who text, "I'm too tired, let's reschedule." And I respect that energy. And I care deeply about being able to sleep at night because I honored my own boundaries and told the truth. And what's fascinating is that science actually backs this up. There's research in psychology that shows emotional regulation improves with age. We become less reactive, more reflective, more capable of holding complexity. Aging doesn't make us perfect, but it makes us perspective rich. I wish it was a different kind of rich, but I'll take perspective rich. Not in the I know everything type of way, but in the I know what really matters type of way. And that's the part we don't talk about enough. (rain pattering) (serene music continues) We're so obsessed with youth in our culture, especially for women, we're sold wrinkle creams before we've even hit 30. We get taught to fear aging like it's something to battle, something to hide. But no one...