You might sometimes get blue, not often, but every time you look in the mirror and some strange face, one you don’t recognize, stares back at you. You want to shout. “Who are you? I don’t know you and I really don’t want to know you.” A stranger is peering at you. A person with wrinkles, a flabby neck and thinning hair. Where is the attractive young person you used to be? Where has she gone? Clearly you say, this intruder can’t be me.
The years have stolen so much. Yet, you still remember so much, not names of course, but much else. Your body tells the truth. It reveals what the years have stolen away, but your brain is as sharp as ever. Lots of seniors would agree and tell you the same if they remembered to do so.
How do you feel when you gaze into the mirror every morning. Have you made friends with the image greeting you or do you rail against the passage of time?
I wrote, “Choices are clear when options are few.” You have no choice, oh you might lose a pound or two, but in the end nature will have its way, so accept the cards you’ve been dealt. Face the future with a smile. Smiles afford you whatever youth is left for you, additionally people like to be with cheerful fellows. Find what you have to smile about and show off your teeth, yours or the ones you’ve purchased. Nothing can alter the passage of time. Save your money on those expensive creams, those messages, and think clearly before you choose surgery. You’re still beautiful because you’ve come through the good and the bad and you’re still here. Enjoy what life continues to offer you and smile. That’s the best way to greet a new day. I wonder what surprises a new day might bring if you’re open to embracing the future. Look up, it’s a lovely day and enjoy your life here in paradise. Judith Levy is the New York Times best-selling author of GRANDMOTHER REMEMBERS, which has sold over four million copies. Her newest beautifully illustrated offering, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER REMEMBERS, a perfect gift, is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
