In Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian makes a deal with the devil to stay young forever. The only thing that shows his true age is a portrait he keeps in his attic. Unlike Dorian, I never made a pact with the devil, and I don't have an aging portrait in my attic. But I do keep a pair of hotpants up there - to remind me of the wasted opportunities of my youth.
I bought these hotpants when I was 20 and working as a model. Every time I put them on, my eyes would zoom in on some perceived fault. A curve here, a dimple there, and I would decide that I didn't look good enough to wear them, so I'd take them off again.
Although I was in an industry that was highly critical of women's bodies, I wasn't any more critical of mine than my non-model friends were of theirs. That is to say that we were all extremely critical of what, with the wisdom of many years of hindsight, can only be described as the perfection of youth.
1. Don't waste your youth
What you do or don't choose to wear to cover your body isn't nearly as important as how you choose to feel about your body. Whatever the changes you are experiencing in your body, the fact is you are aging. It's inevitable. But it's so much better than the alternative.
Remind yourself that whatever your age, not only is focusing on the negatives and feeling dissatisfied futile, in 10 years you will look back on the face or body you have today and wonder why you didn't appreciate it when you had it, and where on earth it went.
Esta historia es de la edición September 2023 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 2023 de Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
