¿CAN GAY MEN EVER MASTER AGING GRACEFULLY?

Good God, the mirror's a challenge. Gravity's relentless tugging and all those summer bods are conspiring with time. They dash in an unholy, unruly, triathlon of, well, let’s call it maturing. It’s not as if we weren’t warned. Beauty is only skin deep.

There’s no denying that sometimes it's hard to face your maturing face. Code Red: This is not a drill. So take a deep breath, ignore most of the new music, most of the fashion, and all the teenage supermodels. Pay no attention to the economic demographers that conspire to make you last year's iPhone before it's even released. More importantly, ignore your friends that take issues with the aging process and remind yourself that getting old is an honor and a privilege.

It’s OK to kick and scream and dig in your heels a little, as long as it doesn’t involve super skinny jeans on a 60-year-old body. But do try to take baby steps toward enlightenment. Just take a lot of them, and at a quick pace.

The LGBT community's grown tremendously in a relatively short time. We've grown from closeted toddlers to rowdy teenagers to more thoughtful, AIDS-scarred adults. But the divisions in our community glare. Bright as a supernova or subtle as the cranky shopper you beat to the checkout, we glare. One only needs to look in the mirror to see the real culprit.

Our community is obsessed with physicality and too often, only chiseled abs and chins need apply. And sadly we gay men are expected to die at the pec fly machine, working in that third set of 10 reps.

How do we age gracefully? Who are our role models to guide us through the golden years? Why. it’s us, by golly! It’s up to you and me, and I think there are many paths down the golden yellow brick road. Garden, go to the gym and do eight reps instead of 10. It’s all good. Just don’t buy into the hype.