Reflections of me

Saturday started pretty much the same way most do, an hour of yoga followed by my weekly beauty maintenance routine. Tweeze the eyebrows, maybe a mask, shave the legs, etc.  Today as  glanced in the mirror though, the face staring back at me didn’t look like mine, or to be honest the one I hoped to see.

Hey when did those puffy, dark circles appear, and that awful wrinkle on the left side of my mouth; what the heck happened to my cheekbones, and ok never mind the double chin, is it even possible to have three chins?

I didn’t like what I saw, not in the very least. As I examined every age spot and imperfection, it begin to dawn on me that when I had looked into the mirror, I was somehow expecting my 25 year old face to be looking back at me.

That is when I took a deep breath and reminded myself that mine was a 56 year old face and although it certainly looked older then a 25 year old face, it looked pretty darn good for a 56 year old face.  Oh yes everything seemed to sag a bit more, and those laugh lines, and droopy eyelids were a sign that gravity was definitely taking its toll, but was my “beauty” really tied to my reflection in the mirror?

So I asked myself “What do I want people to see when they look at me?”

I want them to see a good person.

I want them to see my big heart.

I want them to see an incredible intellect.

I want them to see wisdom.

I want them to see strength.

and if “my face is marked with lines of life, they were put there by love and laughter, suffering and tears, and nothing could be more beautiful then that.”