Beyond the Surface

   As I was backing out of my driveway the other day, I caught a glimpse of something in the mirror that made me come to a screeching halt.
   Lines....and more lines....in the corners of my eyes and around my mouth. Where did those come from and why did I not notice them before? Perhaps it was the glaring sun beaming through the sunroof. I immediately closed it thinking they would magically disappear, with no such luck.
   Today, I am 41 years, 9 months, and 28 days old. Lines and wrinkles on your face are not supposed to appear until you are in your 90's...right? Why is it that I just noticed them a few days ago? The mirror I use every morning when I put my make-up on is much kinder than the rear view mirror in my car.
   I began thinking about the wrinkles and what (if anything) I should do to get rid of them. Getting rid of wrinkles and fine lines makes some doctors a whole lot of money. You cannot look in a magazine without ads for products promising to virtually turn the clock back years. The beauty isle at my local grocery store is full of wrinkle reducers, line eliminators, wrinkly line reducers, puffiness reducers, puffy eye reducers, and every product in between. I would need to get a second job to get all the products to fix the 'flaws' I see in the mirror. A little depressing when you think about it.
   I could forgo the massive over the counter products and see a doctor and get a little Botox here and there. Again....shell out more money to get rid of something that is going to come back, eventually. Or, I could embrace the little flaws with open arms. I thought I had embraced the few gray hairs which were invading the top of my head until I broke down and had my hair colored. After three weeks, the gray hairs made their way back making me realize they have way more resilience than I do when it comes to the beauty ritual of coloring my hair every six weeks for the rest of my life. What's a girl to do?
   I've heard people say, just grow old gracefully. I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time seeing the new wrinkles on my face and gray hair as being graceful. For me, they are like little alarm clocks all over my face screaming, "Hey...you! Yeah, you....time is marching all over your face!" When you are in your teens, it's cool to look older. At my age, I have no desire to look older!
   After much thought, here's what I've realized. Beyond the surface of the creams, "miracle potions" and hair color, I am still the same person. The wrinkles and gray hairs do not define who I am. It's all about feeling good about yourself. It's about how you carry yourself and how your present yourself to others. If you walk in a room with all the confidence in the world, will anyone really notice a wrinkle? Puffy or saggy eyes? Most likely, they won't. On the other hand, if all the beauty rituals make you feel better about yourself and confident, by all means do it! Embrace what it is that makes you feel good about yourself.
   Grow old gracefully or do all you can to reverse the aging process...whatever you chose, just remember it's beyond the surface that matters the most.