15October2025 Diary,
Today someone looked at me with a grave expression and said, Youre not that age any more. I didnt quite catch the meaning at first. Excuse me, what does that even mean? I asked. Their reply came as if it were common sense: You know its no longer the season for bright dresses, boisterous laughter, dancing, singing and unbridled joy like when you were younger. Now you should be more modest, calmer, grownup.
I kept quiet, not out of offense but from marveling at how easily people erect invisible boundaries where none exist. After a moment, I smiled, looked deep inside, and said calmly, Ive never read a rulebook that tells a woman when she must stop being herself.
Who decides when a woman should stop laughing until she cries? Who sets the age at which a red lipstick or a fullthroated rendition of a favourite tune becomes inappropriate? We dont cease to be ourselves simply because the calendar adds another year.
Behind me lie many years, filled with pain, experience, and great happiness. I have witnessed soaring successes and crushing falls, losses and fresh starts. I am now differentnot older, but calmer, deeper, wiser. I have learned to value silence, to listen to my own heart, and to understand that true youth isnt recorded in a passport; it lives in the eyes, in the ability to delight in small things, and in the wonder at the world.
I no longer need to prove my worth to anyone. I dont chase a youthful façade; I simply want to live authentically. I laugh when something amuses me, I dance when a favourite tune plays, I wear what feels right to me, not what belongs to a certain age. Most importantly, I allow myself to feel alive.
Life isnt a stage where you must perform the role of appropriate age. Its a journey, and each day is a gift. Its a shame when people turn away from joy just because someone said, Its no longer suitable for you. I am suitable. I am suitable for laughing when my soul sings. I am suitable for bright dresses even if Im not twenty. I am suitable for being exactly who I am now, without excuses or fear.
There is no such thing as the wrong age. There is only a momentwarm, genuine, alive. If you feel light within, if your heart still wants to laugh and love, then you are alive.
Now is my time to livetruly, without limits, without shame, without should and must. No one has the right to decide when a woman stops being herself.
I simply exist. And each morning I tell myself, Yes, this is my age. Its the best one yet.
Lesson learned: Age is a number, not a verdict; the real measure of life is the willingness to keep feeling, laughing, and being unapologetically yourself.
