LIFE ISN'T A BEAUTY SHOPPE
Yesterday I awoke early as always, but yesterday, I had a reason to get out of bed. You see, I had a Doctors appointment. Well, not really an appointment with the Doctor, but I had to go and get some lab work done. As most of you know, this is when you go to the Doctor's office and let a nice little lady smile at you and say nice things to you and tell you how good you look before she sticks a needle in the front side of your elbow that's so long it reaches all the way to your heart and draws enough blood out of your old body to feed a cave full of bats for a week. The nice little lady then tell you to go pee in a cup that she hands to you while wearing rubber gloves that go up to her elbows. You would think she would give me the rubber gloves to wear because as much trouble as us men have hitting something as big as a toilet, no way can we hit that little cup without peeing all over our hands. Now you may think this post is about going to the Doctor but let me assure you it's not. What goes on in my Doctors office, stays in my Doctors office. If I told you all the questions that I have been asked and all the places I've been touched in that office this post would have to have a warning about you being over 18 to read it. No, This is about something that happened as I was getting ready to go to the Doctors office and it got me to thinking. Seems it doesn't take much to get me thinking these days.
You see, as I was getting ready to go, as I do every morning, I looked in the mirror. I do this to make sure I'm what some people would call..."Presentable", although I have never understood how looking into a mirror can make you look "Presentable.... It's kind of like going to to the Beauty Shoppe to get Beautiful..... I've always said... "If you're ugly when you go in that Beauty Shoppe, your gonna be ugly when you come out. There's only so much you can do with hair." Anyway, as I was looking into the mirror, I saw something different this time..... I saw a face that was aged. Oh, I recognised the face but not as my own. I saw lines I didn't know were there. I saw years that had silently passed by. I knew you...(Fill in this space with your name)... were getting older but I thought I looked the same as I did 40 years ago. Hmmmmm I thought to myself. I am getting "old". I then asked myself...... "How do I feel about getting old?" How do I feel about looking different? How do I feel about not having the strength I once had? How do I feel about seeing friends and family, all loved ones, leaving for the world beyond? Do I have any regrets? Do I have any wisdom to share? Am I grateful for the life I've lived or do I wish I had more time? Do I ever think "If only" or "I wish"..... Have you ever had these feelings? Have you ever looked back and said..."I wish I had taken better care of this body." Or how about you soul...Did you take good care of your soul? Did you dance when the music moved you and sing when the tune popped into you mind? Did you laugh out loud from way down deep in your belly and did you cry when your heart was broken? Did you say "I love you" and mean it with all your might? Do you find yourself always looking back or looking forward or do you just look now? I found me asking myself.... "Do your eyes still see, does your heart still beat, do your hands still feel, do your lips still smile, does your body still move, will you still live on even after you’ve gone?" That some deep thinking there................
I find I have so many thoughts as I get older. In less that a month I will be 67. It's hard to believe it's been that long since I came into this world. How did all this time get past me? I never saw it coming. Do I hate that I'm getting older? Not at all. After all, many have not reached the age that I am. I think back to being 13....to 16...to 21..... I know those are just numbers but they were so important at the time and now, instead of being a long time ago, they were just yesterday. I look at photos of times past and I think to myself...I looked so young then.
I find myself wondering what will I look like in 10 more years if I'm lucky enough to still be around. Or how about 20 years from now.... How will you look then? You know....I guess it doesn't really matter how you or I look going forward. Life isn't a Beauty Shoppe. As we step into tomorrow we can be ugly going in but the good news is we can step out of every day being beautiful. It's all what we make of it.
Just something to think about..................................
