How old are you? Before you rush to reply, consider that there are three distinct and separate ways to measure someone's age:
Chronological age-- how old are you by the calendar.
Biological age-- how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes.
Psychological age-- how old you feel you are.
Only the first of these, the chronological age is fixed, and this is also the most unreliable of the three. One 50-year old may be nearly as healthy as he was at 25, while another person of the same age may already have the body of a 60- or 70- year old. To really know how old you are, the second measure, biological age comes into play; it tells us how time has affected your organs and tissues compared to other people of same chronological age.
Biological age also has its limits as a measurement tool. Biological age is known to be changeable. The arrow of time can move forward quickly or slowly, stop in its tracks, or even turn around. Your body becomes younger or older biologically depending on how you treat it.
The determining factor is psychological age, which is the most personal and mysterious of the measurements but also the one that holds the most promise for reversing the aging process. Like biological age, psychological age is completely personal--- no two people have exactly the same psychological age because no two people have exactly the same experiences. How old you feel you are has no boundaries and can reverse in a split second. An old woman recalling her first love can suddenly look and sound as if she has turned 18 again.
Instead of coming up with a fixed number to answer the question "How old are you?", we need to arrive at a sliding scale that shows how fast our three ages are moving in relation to one another. For example, take the case of two 50-year old men:
A, who has lots of family problems, suffers from depression, with a history of heart disease, and overweight.
B, who is happily married, healthy, optimistic, and satisfied with his job.
Although A and B are both chronologically 50 years old, A is under so many negative influences that his body is 10 years older biologically and is aging quickly. The picture is very different for B. His good physical and mental health indicate that he is aging slowly biologically and is actually getting younger psychologically.
Although we can't change our chronological age, we can very well alter the other two ages, more so the psychological age. How to do that, we shall explore in the next blog!
Chronological age-- how old are you by the calendar.
Biological age-- how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes.
Psychological age-- how old you feel you are.
Only the first of these, the chronological age is fixed, and this is also the most unreliable of the three. One 50-year old may be nearly as healthy as he was at 25, while another person of the same age may already have the body of a 60- or 70- year old. To really know how old you are, the second measure, biological age comes into play; it tells us how time has affected your organs and tissues compared to other people of same chronological age.
Biological age also has its limits as a measurement tool. Biological age is known to be changeable. The arrow of time can move forward quickly or slowly, stop in its tracks, or even turn around. Your body becomes younger or older biologically depending on how you treat it.
The determining factor is psychological age, which is the most personal and mysterious of the measurements but also the one that holds the most promise for reversing the aging process. Like biological age, psychological age is completely personal--- no two people have exactly the same psychological age because no two people have exactly the same experiences. How old you feel you are has no boundaries and can reverse in a split second. An old woman recalling her first love can suddenly look and sound as if she has turned 18 again.
Instead of coming up with a fixed number to answer the question "How old are you?", we need to arrive at a sliding scale that shows how fast our three ages are moving in relation to one another. For example, take the case of two 50-year old men:
A, who has lots of family problems, suffers from depression, with a history of heart disease, and overweight.
B, who is happily married, healthy, optimistic, and satisfied with his job.
Although A and B are both chronologically 50 years old, A is under so many negative influences that his body is 10 years older biologically and is aging quickly. The picture is very different for B. His good physical and mental health indicate that he is aging slowly biologically and is actually getting younger psychologically.
Although we can't change our chronological age, we can very well alter the other two ages, more so the psychological age. How to do that, we shall explore in the next blog!
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