On March 15, Eva Longoria celebrated her 47th birthday. For some people, such a milestone might have brought up feelings of sadness, shame, or worry. But Longoria genuinely embraced growing another year older—because aging is a privilege, after all.

In an interview with Prevention, Longoria shared her candid thoughts on the aging process—and how it’s societally tethered to beauty standards and self-worth. Here’s the thing, though: No matter how much face cream we apply or workouts we sweat through, the clock is going to keep ticking. So why resist it?

“It’s inevitable and it’s happening,” Longoria explains. “So I don’t think we should fight it too hard.” Instead, she chooses to relish in every moment. “I associate aging with wisdom and experience and maturity,” she adds. “For me, I lean into it. So I kind of have a different approach.”

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And it’s one that can be hard to maintain when conversations of plastic surgery, Botox, and fillers seem to surface at every turn—especially in her entertainment industry. “I know I’m in Hollywood, but I have wrinkles,” she says. “Everything that happens with aging is happening to me. And I’m like, ‘Ok, here we go.’ I associate it with positive attributes—not so much, ‘Here’s the beginning of the end.’”

With all of that being said, Longoria admits that aging doesn’t come without its challenges, such as realizing that her vision isn’t as great as it once was. “When I was in my early 40s, I started having difficulty seeing up close. My eye doctor let me know I had presbyopia or age-related blurry near vision, a common condition that affects most of us as we age,” she explains. Along with blurred vision, side effects of the condition include eye redness and headaches.

“Don’t waste those decades thinking, ‘I'm old.’”

To help the Desperate Housewives star see clearer (and maybe avoid readers a little longer), her doctor prescribed VUITY, the first and only FDA-approved prescription eye drop to treat the condition. And she’s a fan, which is why she partnered with Allergan, an Abbvie Company to promote the special product.

“All of my friends are in the same age group as me and if they have trouble seeing up close, I tell them to talk to their eye doctor to see if VUITY is right for them,” she says.

The drops, and her optimistic attitude are giving Longoria the confidence to not only embrace aging, but enjoy it. “Here’s the thing I always tell people…the biggest mistake we do is waste our 30s thinking that’s old, and then the next mistake is wasting our 40s thinking that’s old,” she says. “Don’t waste those decades.”

Additional reporting by: Emily Goldman

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Kayla Blanton

Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.