In your 40s, you should still be adding laugh lines

Sometimes I have to remind my girlfriends that this is as good as it gets.

They aren't always thrilled to hear it. Sometimes they get annoyed, and a few have rolled their eyes at me. But no one can argue the point.

No matter how bad our feet hurt after working all day, no matter how much we cringe when we look at our fine lines in the magnifying mirror (it's against the rules to call them wrinkles in my house), no matter how much we detest the muffin top that sticks out if we don't adjust our underwear, one day we will stumble upon old pictures of ourselves from 2011 and say, "Wow. I looked great."

Let's face it. As we travel through our mid-40s and beyond, saying goodbye to elasticity and a quick metabolism along the way, we are only going to look and feel worse.

So why not feel better right now, while we can, and laugh a little?

My friends and relatives are freaking out. They've gotten their first Heavy Sigh from the family physician about a number of ailments and none of the so-called solutions sounds like fun. They are choosing among hysterectomies, lifelong medications, and exercise routines, oh my. We are altering diets, battling demon addictions to tobacco and Hershey's chocolate bars, and suffering near-nervous breakdowns as a result.

That's where my bluntness isn't always welcomed; nonetheless, I feel an urgent need to point out the obvious -- no matter what, we feel better today than we will tomorrow.

If we don't laugh about spider veins and neck issues, if we don't chuckle about grey hair and saggy arms, then how are we going to handle macular degeneration and dentures?

We are deteriorating. We can no longer run around the ball park with the kids or stay out past midnight with our friends without some kind of pharmaceutical intervention.

But there is a certain amount of freedom in the realization that we aren't young anymore. We get to relax and enjoy the sight of our kids running around the ball park without us, we get to snuggle in bed and watch television instead of competing with co-eds on the dance floor, and we get to discover the delicious flavors of bran cereal.

OK, maybe that last one is a hard sell, but let's repeat my favorite line from the "Desiderata" and gracefully surrender the things of youth. Do you really want to be out there dancing in a see-through dress? Do you really want to be competing with 15-year-olds running down Bayshore? Of course not. You want to sit on the porch after an intense yoga routine for grown women, with a nice glass of wine, laughing at yourself and everyone else.

Sometimes, as good as it gets can still be great.