Here’s a question for you. How old do you think you are? Not your physical age. And not how old do you feel?

What I mean is how old are you in your head? In other words, what’s your internal age?

There comes a point in your life when you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror and wonder who is that? For Jennifer Senior, Writer & Author, she saw her best friend’s mom from high school staring back at her.

In physical form, we’re one age and in our mind, we’re much younger. There’s a name for this. It’s called our subjective age. Jennifer talks about this on the Ten Percent Happier podcast, April 12 Episode: Jennifer Senior on Grief, Happiness, Friendship Breakups, and Why We Feel Younger Than Our Actual Age.

And this came from an article she wrote for The Atlantic: The puzzling gap between how old you are and how old you think you are? It garnered a lot of attention.

We adults over 40 generally think we’re 20% younger than our actual age. For me the gap is even wider.

I find myself more and more looking at people and thinking they’re much older than me. Only to find out they’re the same age or younger. I guess I better look more closely in the mirror lol.

Apparently, I’m not alone in this though. The predominant theme of responses to Jennifer’s article…

When we took our 85-year-old mother to Assisted Living, she said, “Please get me out of here, it’s full of old people”.

I wonder, is this a bad thing, shaving years off our age? Are we in denial? Is it the result of living in a society that worships youth?

Or does it make us feel and thus act like we have so much more to contribute. Like we’re not done yet.

One study looked at this subjective age phenomenon in many different countries. It turns out in Asia and Africa, where elders are respected and celebrated, they don’t shave as many years off their age. They still think of themselves as younger, but not as much as we do in North America.

I leave you with this interesting fact. Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor were in their 40’s when they played Edith and Archie Bunker on All in the Family. What? Did you not think they were in their 60’s?

Fast forward and now I’m 62 years old but in my head, I’m still 45. How about you?

P.S. If you’re looking for soft, comfortable and stylish clothing, no matter how old you are or think you are, then check out my 50% off rack for some great deals.

50% Off Rack

Until next time,

~ Colleen

I’m a recovering Chartered Accountant and Breast Cancer Champion turned Fashion Designer. My COKANNA Canadian-made bamboo clothing is all about comfort and style. Giving back to the community is important to me so I support local breast cancer organizations who treat the whole person and not just the disease.