Yup, you read it right. It's not a typo. Both Hollywood's sweetheart and I are now traveling through the second half of our lives. And you know what? We look and feel damn great.
As I sat across from and next to Ryan in Locarno for a couple of hours, I couldn't help but think, like a perfect mantra playing in my head, how beautiful and perfectly grown up she looks. At times, I know she could tell I was elsewhere mentally during our talk. So yes, Meg you were right, I was thinking about how damn great you look and sound, up close and personal.
The evening after our public chat in Locarno, a worldly and cool couple I deeply admire and have been friends with for almost half a decade now, invited me to dinner. We sat in the balmy heat of the lakeside restaurant's al fresco area and caught up on our lives in the last few months. Then, inspired by their own perfect love story, I told them I was turning 51 in a few days. They gasped and I could tell from their response they weren't quite sure I was telling the truth. But yes, I am, so here it goes.
For the first time in my adult life, I am not lying about my age. I'm more than half a century old. Or young, actually. It's better to say it that way and it better represents how I feel.
So, this column is not about tooting my own horn, because well toot toot, genes and the environment around me had a lot to do with how I look and feel at middle age. But honestly, it's easy to look younger and more vibrant at any age, and it's never too early to start preparing for a glowing, successful and healthy, inshallah, second half of your life.
It's never been easier to look at least 15 years younger than you are.
My first lesson on this journey, which I hope you'll take with me, is do what you love to do in life. Even if it doesn't pay you what you wish it would, at first.
Somehow, somewhere, I guarantee you there is a company willing to pay someone for doing exactly what you love. And when you do finally find that perfect company tied to your professional red thread (read about this beautiful idea here) the results can be magical. By then, you'll have constantly deposited into the bank of good spirit, doing what you love and leading a passionate life, so getting paid for doing what you love will feel like icing on the cake.
Oh, yes, cake. That reminds me about lesson number two -- go ahead and have some cake from time to time. Life's joie de vivre comes easier when the soul is appeased with cake. But make it chocolate cake, because really, is there any other kind? And notice I wrote from time to time. Chocolate cake every day will wreak havoc with your complexion.