Cameron Diaz is zeroing in on what it means to age in the modern age, and how we can do it gracefully and with pride. We love that she’s taking on this topic – and making it more fun!

Enjoy this sweet and inspiring excerpt  from her latest book, The Longevity Book, which conveys a message we believe in and hope to hear more of: that living well starts and grows from the little moments in our daily lives where we embrace the profound pleasure of being “unapologetically ourselves”. Here’s Cameron… 

I was recently out to dinner with a group of friends, and there was a table full of ladies nearby in their fifties and sixties. They were a rowdy group who started out with a bottle of wine and just kept laughing more and more loudly as the night progressed. They were having a great time. They didn’t seem to notice anybody else in the room. And my friends and I looked at one another and said, “That’s how you do it! That is how it’s done!”

These women were positively glowing with the delight of being together. They weren’t wondering about how they looked to anyone else in the restaurant. They were completely in the moment, just living it up for the evening. They didn’t seem to be worried about how old they were. They seemed to be focused on how alive they were.

To me, that is one of the gifts of aging. The ability to be present. To be confident. To be fully, unapologetically, yourself. The thing is, contrary to the messages that women receive every day, life isn’t only for the young. Enjoying life isn’t about being young. Beauty doesn’t depend on looking young. Joy and companionship and connection and all the best parts of life don’t only happen when you’re young.

So if you want to age well, consider what makes you feel most alive. Consider what fills you with love and anticipation and wonder and joy—and then go and do some more of that, please. Because isn’t that the point of all this self-care? To enjoy our lives. To enjoy our families and friends. To look forward to possibilities and improbabilities and the best surprises that life can bring.

Love this as much as we do? Check out more from Cameron here.