Young Wives Live Shorter Lives

Why The Age we Act is Important

Age is a fickle fiend. Chronologically, it is a number. Biologically, it is represented physiologically. Healthwise, it can be counted by the number of ailments a person suffers. Emotionally, it is how we feel. So what is age really? It is all of these things.

Most often, we think of age in terms of the number. If you are asked your age you are more likely to say "I am 35" than "I am beginning to get wrinkles" or "I have high blood pressure but am otherwise healthy." It is simply normal to think of our age in the most simple of ways. But the older we get, the more we realize that people that are the same numerical age as we are can appear quite different.

Let's for now examine age in a different way: social behaviors. What I mean is let's think about age in terms of the way that we interact with others. I will use the simple example of parenthood. Let's compare two theoretical women. Woman A marries at 22 and has a child at 24, woman B marries at 35 and has her first child at 38.

It turns out the children of these two women were born in the same year and attend school together with several other children. A group of 10 children become friends in Kindergarten and as a result, their moms become friends as well. The average age of these moms is 35; woman A is 29 and woman B is 43.

We now have a social group of moms who range in age from 29-43. Despite the fact that numerically they are all different ages, their lives center around similar activities and they are all very engrossed in being mothers of young children. Let's assume that these moms all join the Parent Teacher Association and become very close. In a social sense, these women behave the same and they all feel the age that emotionally corresponds to being a new mom. The "average" new mom in this group is 35 and so all of the moms more or less act in a way consistent with being about 35. The 29 year old feels older than her numeric age and the 43 year old feels younger.

Over time it will become more and more apparent that people will act consistently with the age that they feel. Feeling younger than you really are will help keep you healthier because you will be doing "young" activities which tend to be more active while acting older will start to slow you down! Effectively, Woman B who had her child at 38 will be more likely to live a longer life than Woman A who had her child at 24.

Don't believe me? Check out this study by the University of Michigan!