You may not believe it unless you knew me back then, but yes, I was young and gorgeous once. Yes, I was. You don’t have to argue with me quite so vehemently. Okay, so beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder…but (speaking to we mid-life and beyond people) weren’t we all young and more beautiful than we are now?
I miss my younger self. My vibrant, energetic youngness. My not-so-droopy chin and gravity-challenged flesh. My relatively pain-free muscles and joints, my ability to run or jump, and especially my hopeful, youthful spirit of life and love and the “anything is possible, what’s next” feel for life.
Yes, I miss my younger self for many reasons, not just the more able body, but the joy and exuberance and innocence. Although, I take that back. I don’t mind the innocence being gone – the naivety, gullibility, and inexperience that comes with youth. The knowledge and wisdom we gain as we age go a long way to protecting us and helping us be careful and make better decisions as well as making us more relaxed and accepting. I expect we all did stupid stuff when we were young people – especially my husband who was a wild child on his motorcycle, leaping off dangerous sand hills, etc., etc... We got into trouble just because everybody was pressuring us to do something stupid. Oh, the stupidity of youth, of inexperience, of exuberance!
So, while there are parts to my younger self I miss, it appears that after serious mulling, I am rather pleased with the me inside this slowly aging body. In truth, I am a lot more beautiful than I ever was – on the inside. And isn’t that what true beauty is? We just keep getting better all the time.
Comments