You might have seen the recent Pfizer campaign about “getting old.” Seems like a better name for it would’ve been “getting older,” because old connotes things like nursing homes, adult diapers and Ensure. Can’t even go there. Seriously.  {So you already know that this is NOT a paid post. Just saying’}

Anyway, Pfizer sponsored a Gallup survey about how people feel about getting old and they were also surveying us here at BlogHer ’12. The response choices given: optimistic, uneasy, prepared, angry.

I’m not sure any of them really fit how I feel about getting older, because here’s what I think: Getting older beats the alternative.

Reminders of my age are everywhere, though. In the middle-of-the-night insomnia that plagues me, my disinterest in late nights or any kind of substance, including alcohol…in the weight that just won’t come off and in the knowledge that I’ve timed out of some things forever, at least in this life. Like having or adopting children.

When we’re younger, we feel invincible, but when our peers start dying, mortality stares us in the face, challenging us to make lifestyle changes — even though it’s probably too late for them to make a difference. And sometimes, mortality is just luck of the draw. But its proximity is definitely noticed as we get older.

Here’s what else that’s true about getting older: I’m just as imperfect as I ever was, but I no longer care. I (mostly) accept myself as a mixed bag of good things and things that need improvement. I might get there, or I might not, but I’m not going to let my limitations stand in the way of living the best life I can.

Pfizer’s survey asked, when’s the first time you felt your age? Good question I distinctly remember that I didn’t feel any older than 18 until I hit 30. I didn’t feel my age until maybe 50.  The Gallup response averaged out to 38 years old.  That’s pretty young, in my book.

There’s a lot of talk about Boomers being in the prime of their lives, but is it true?

Isn’t every stage of life prime? From those innocent childhood days to the turbulent teens and on to young adulthood and for many, parenthood…it’s all prime, in my opinion. I know the official definition of the prime of life is that time of maturity when power and vigor are at their greatest, but a case can be made my way, too.

I’d love to have the vigor of my 20s with the maturity I gained in my 50s. I’d love to have my whole life in front of me, as I did at 18, and be that beautiful young woman whose world was her oyster and most important:  to know it.

And then, there’s this:

Pfizer’s question really made me think. How about you? When was the first time YOU felt your age? How do YOU feel about getting older? And if you’re still in the “younger” category, how do you feel about aging?