I was having a conversation about age today and how being conscious of our age profoundly affects our behaviour.

We are living through fast-moving and very image-conscious times - more than ever before. How we look, present ourselves to the world and behave with and towards one another seems now to outweigh the value of our internal life.

Advertisers bombard us with messages targeted at their perception of our age group, reinforcing our feelings about ‘belonging’ to a specific age range. This can span one or two decades which, when you think about it, is pretty absurd, given that every single human being is born different from any other, not to mention the variety that nurture, education and life experience confer on each individual.

When we meet someone new, we tend to try and bracket them pretty quickly by asking what they ‘do’ and at some point if the conversation’s going well, how old they are.

In my own experience, each time I’ve reached another milestone year, for a while at least it’s as though I have my age tattooed in neon inside my head. I explained to my friend that this felt like an anchor pulling me down to the depths, when actually my whole purpose in life is about raising my vibrations and helping others to do so too, en route to becoming happier and more fulfilled. He said he thought the way forward was to surround ourselves with people who perceived us as young and dynamic, regardless of actual age. This didn’t feel right to me and this is what I replied:

We cannot get our sense of self-worth from outside ourselves. It all starts with self-love. We have to learn to love and accept ourselves unconditionally, regardless of the way the world seems to value us at any given time. Remember the instruction in every pre-flight ‘spiel’ … “put the oxygen mask on yourself first”?

So, if you’re struggling with feeling handicapped by your age, I’m going to suggest what I advise my clients: go to a mirror, look yourself in the eye and say “I love you”. It may inspire giggles, it may initially make you run howling out of the room but, with practice, the love you genuinely deserve to feel for yourself will show itself … and you will see that you are indeed ageless.

With love and light, Michele x