Dear Beauty,
How do you feel about your age? It’s really fun to look at age from a philosophical, far away, pie-in-the-sky, exalted perspective—but when your own birthday approaches, the reality of age can be an emotionally challenging event.
Movies have a way of showing us reality. A few weeks ago we watched an old (2000) flick called What Women Want, where Mel Gibson’s character suddenly hears the thoughts of every woman he meets. This new ability, is both a blessing and a curse, as he is suddenly privy to the chatter that takes place in each woman’s mind.
The movie could just as easily be called, What Women THINK. As my own birthday approaches, a boat-load of thoughts go through my head, and I have to admit, not all of them are pretty. Sometimes I argue with myself through song lyrics:
“Here we are the Old Folks at Home in our Old Rocking Chair.â€
“Am I really the Little Old Lady from Pasadena?â€
“Will you still love me, When I’m 64…and beyond?”
“No, I Ain’t Getting older, I’m Getting Better.â€
“But The Old Grey Mare, She ain’t what she used to be.”
“Yea, but, It Was a Very Good Year.”
If we’re not careful, the negative messages about age can take up residence in our brains. Like it or not,  youth is still worshiped in this culture. We can combat those nasty messages by changing our tune.  The song I want ringing in my ear is sung by Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women. It’s called I’m Growing Older  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAYv7CvqhbQ . These four lines from the song make great affirmations:
“I’m just fine gettin’ oldâ€
“I age like fine wineâ€
“I’ve got it going onâ€
“It’s a matter of soulâ€
That last one is especially true. Thinking back to our recent class reunion, time affects the body in many ways, no surprise; but as we met, mingled as told about our lives, we agreed that even with the passing of decades, nothing important has changed. Okay, we are MUCH nicer to each other now than at 18, but even after all that time, we don’t  feel any different. A part of each person feels just as the same as always.
Maybe that which is immortal within us, remains constantly the perfect age. I’m convinced this “me” we hold within, is richer and wiser because of the journey we’ve taken and the experiences we’ve survived. We now know that it’s vital to feed the Soul/Spirit positive thoughts to keep it strong and healthy.
So this year, as your birthday approaches, you might consider looking into the mirror to say,  “I love my age. I love what I am and I love what I am not. I’m going to live each day feeling glad for experiencing what is good in life as well what is challenging.  I can face the future with confidence.”
Happy Birthday everyone. You’ve made it another year. You’re here to tell the tale (go ahead and embellish).
Celebrate, because you’ve got it going on,
Jan