Why people lie and feel embarrassed to reveal their ages still leave me with a big question mark on top of my head. Is aging a shameful truth? Why are people embarrassed by their ages?
In this post, I’m trying to understand why some people regard this number as a disgrace with the following assumed reasons:
1. People who might be younger think they look older than they should. This thinking could have stemmed from others’ offending compliments such as they look more mature than people in the same age).
With age come the lines of life marking their faces just as annual rings form in a horizontal cross section cut through the trunk of a tree. In a culture that encourages people to engage in trash talks about their own bodies, in which confidence in physical appearance is an act of bravery, broadcasting pride in outward form can be daunting. If someone’s whole self-worth is tied up with how they look, then they’re going to have tougher times with getting older.
2. They have not gained the fruits of most people’s definition of success (e.g. possessing huge amounts of money, riches, fame, empire and the like) given their age.
Then again, perspective is a tricky player. They might not have been successful to others’ eyes, but if they are living their lives happily, why can’t they be proud? If they’d hide their age and disrespect honesty as the best policy, then going to a costume party as themselves would totally be most appropriate. Allowing self-consciousness to circle them like a lion ready to devour, they simply are in fear of being judged. Being misjudged is another thing. They can let everything out in the open so as not to invite prejudice and misinterpretation.
3. They are not healthy as most people in their age are.
Being sickly lowers their self-confidence as poor health can be reflective of how bad their lifestyle had been, how they had abused their own body and how they had taken their youth for granted.
4. They can’t impart golden nuggets of wisdom.
With age come some wisdom and acquisition of knowledge and skills. If they don’t have much lessons from the past to contribute and learn from, they’ll only be perceived as old and elderly but not wise and useful.
Conclusion
All these possible reasons boil down to one word: dignity, the act or feeling of being dignified. People who are embarrassed by their ages are ones who cannot present an even semi-dignified exterior to the world. Yes, it’s a self-aggrandizing world we live in, but really the reason we should be doing good is that it’s the right thing to do, regardless of our age. The more time we spend looking over our shoulder to make sure everyone sees us being good, the less time we actually have to be good.
Also, to sort this out, one suggestion is to play the “wouldn’t you be sorry?” game with yourself whilst thinking of potentially undignified consequences and regrets later on. If you’re not sorry every time you make decisions and make them happen, you sure won’t be sorry to tell the world just how old you are.
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