My friend Wendy said in a recent blog post:
“What
makes you feel better about yourself regardless of what the scale says? How do
you see what's within?” I’ll take the
liberty of changing that to “What makes you feel better about yourself
regardless of what the MIRROR says? How do you see what's within?”
Possibly like
Wendy, I’ll likely never again weigh the 110 I did when I got married; more
than that, my hair has gone from dark brown to gray, my formerly smooth and
soft skin has developed wrinkles and spots, and my waist and a couple of other
body parts have...let’s say…shifted.
Some mornings I look in the mirror and think to myself: “who IS that old person?” because I don't like what I see; other times I look in the
mirror and think “not too shabby for an old broad”. What makes the difference?
For me the obvious answer is that I perceive that I look good when I am
happy. I can be grimy from working in
the garden, but when I look in the mirror I see happy eyes and a smile on my
face, and sun-touched skin that makes the gray of my hair appear to sparkle – I
like what I see. When I’m dressed to the nines, but feeling sad, I look in the
mirror and see a furrowed brow, pasty skin, and dull eyes – I look and feel
OLD. Even if you are young and
beautiful, think about how often someone says to you “Are you feeling alright?
You look [sad, ill, worried].” How we
feel SHOWS, and that - more than the color of your hair, or your current weight,
or the shoes you wear, determines whether people think we look good or not.
The advantage of being in this stage of my life is that I’ve finally
stopped caring what everyone else thinks of me or expects of me, and am happy
just BEING. I am delighted to have been blessed with the continuing good health to
do the things that I love to do, the time in which to do them, and a
life-partner/best-friend/husband who encourages me to do the things that make
me happy and likes me just as I am. Does life get better than
this? I am one very lucky lady! J
