"There are no ugly women -- only lazy ones." - Coco Chanel
Let's review, shall we?
With Black Don't Crack Part One, I told you to wear sunscreen if you want beautiful, wrinkle-free skin. In Black Don't Crack Part Two, I told you not to smoke. (Anything!) And in Black Don't Crack Part Three, I told you not to drink alcohol. There's more stuff I could have mentioned -- like how chronic stress ages you like crazy and so does ghetto miasma for that matter -- but I wanted to cut to the chase and hit the highlights. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I've done just that.
With a minimal amount of toxins and carcinogens actively damaging your system and a daily intake of antioxidants improving your overall health by leaps and bounds, you're on your way to agelessness -- the point at which you (subconsciously) pick a year (35, let's say), hit your stride, stop the clock and maintain that ageless equilibrium for the rest of your life. The choice is entirely yours.
I don't believe that I have to get a heart attack when I reach a certain age or that I have to slow down when I get old. I don't think that cancer is inevitable. I don't think wrinkles are inevitable, either. There are moments when I feel as though I'm fighting against my physical self -- like when I'm learning something new in boxing class and my arms just won't obey me -- but the truth is, my body is not my enemy. Or at least, it doesn't have to be. If I take care of it, it will take care of itself and ultimately, it will take care of me.
This is the level of discipline as a way of life that Eartha Kitt lived with such conviction. She wasn't about getting it together when she got cast in a role. She was every inch the star and she lived it every day -- but then again, she smoked cigarettes and drank socially. Joan Crawford was another star whose self-discipline was legendary, and who also smoked cigarettes and enjoyed her martinis. For me, there's Annette Larkins -- my number one eat clean inspiration. I am in awe of her.
My skin doesn't look this good because I'm black. It looks this good because I work at it.
I've spent my whole life not drinking, not smoking, staying out of the sun and steering clear of eating fast food and garbage. Don't get me wrong -- I love to eat all that stuff, but it doesn't love me. I have taken care of my skin religiously since college -- with excellent products, monthly facials and gobs of sunscreen. I have fought the good fight and hit the gym on a daily basis so I wouldn't all of a sudden turn into a giant lard ass. Every season, if I can't get back into the clothes I've got in my closet, I pretty much work out obsessively until I can wear all of it. I'm getting restless, though. Time to find another hobby to physically exhaust me. (Hm. Maybe gymnastics!)
The bottom line is, I want a great quality of life. For some people, that means drinking, smoking, sunbathing and doing some pretty fun drugs. For me, that means that I'll give up those things to have a healthy, lean, strong body to run around in -- and someday when I'm 60, the world will assume that I couldn't possibly be any older than 32. Apparently, I'm off to a great start.
Now stop wondering how old that black woman is -- you know, the one whose body is so lean and fit, and whose wrinkle-free skin looks so incredible whenever you see her -- and get to work.
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