After we all reach a certain age, beauty can come only from a loving heart and a friendly nature. Those unable to give and receive love can’t be beautiful. All of us want and need love, like we need oxygen. People who live for years and years without giving or receiving love, don’t really ‘live’ – they merely exist! To be loved, you must be loveable. As long as you’re capable of loving everything that life offers you, you’re beautiful, immaterial of your age. Such people don’t age, they retain their youthful looks and characteristics and become increasingly beautiful everyday! They have an inner-glow that their faces radiate!

The next time you go to a party or a function, look around. Who’s the most beautiful person? It’s certainly not the youngest, or the most perfect, or even the best dressed. It will always be, without a doubt, the person with a genuine smile on their face and a kind word for everyone; the person who radiates love, joy and humour. No amount of plastic surgery can do that for anyone. Instead of opting for such artificial procedures, which make you look frozen, choose instead, to get ‘work done’ on your joy, resilience, love, curiosity and humour. That’s how you’ll be forever beautiful, even when you are 80, 90 or 100!

Wrinkles may show on your face and they will. But lack of enthusiasm will wrinkle your soul. In fact, you can actually decide how your wrinkles develop! Will they be laugh lines or frowns? Will you have optimism in your eyes as you age or suspicious squints of jealously? With age, either you fall in love with the wonders of this world, or sleepwalk through each day, within the four walls of your house, living in your own little limited world. You can build powerful muscles by reaching out to carry other people’s burdens, or develop rounded shoulders and a hunched back from carrying your own problems (real or imaginary). Your feet can become tired from taking walks everyday with people you love, or they can become withered with varicose-veins by sitting at home all day, everyday!

You can develop a more loving look on your face everyday, or you can avoid the mirror’s reflection of what you have allowed yourself to become. Looking more beautiful with age is your face showing qualities which are timeless – like love, kindness, strength, dedication, wisdom, curiosity, enthusiasm, intelligence, compassion and above ALL, a sense of humour. If you can make even one person laugh each day, that’s enough. I spread laughter to thousands of anonymous readers through funny imaginary articles in my series, MEHER BAI’S MANDLI. I tax my brain to create fun characters like Banu-batak, Freny-fatakri, Coomi-Kaajwali, Abbhan Aban, Firdos-fituri, Bomi-bevdo, Baji-bun pao & Behram-brun pao, the sisters, Jabri Jaloo & her sister Aloo, and many more. Why? What is in it for me? The satisfaction that on a Saturday morning, it will bring a smile on someone’s face, somewhere. That is my biggest reward.

In today’s world, it is easy to make another person cry but pretty difficult to make others laugh. If you can make others laugh, don’t miss that chance. Laughter brings joy. Even if it is a silly joke, it brings joy for a few moments and we forget our worries. So, laugh heartily and don’t worry about the laugh lines on your face – they look attractive!

Choose and believe in Happiness – not sadness; Friends, not isolation; Health – not sickness; and Life – not death! Death will come when it has to. Don’t live by other people’s expectations of you like ‘act your age’. Every life has happy and sad moments, set-backs and tragedies. Pay less attention to these negatives and dwell on the positives. Keep your soul ‘young’ right up to the brink of death.

Every morning when you wake up, it’s the first day for the rest of your life. Live that day to the highest point of your talent, love, laughter, affection and inner-joy and you’ll uproot all myths about ageing and be beautiful forever!