40 and counting

Yep...I'm 40 now.  My sister said, "Welcome to the 40s club sis!  It's not as bad as it seems.  40 is the new 30!"  And well, really, it's not as bad as it seems (even though it's not the new 30s, it's still 40).  Which brings me to a thought/belief of mine that I've wanted to write for some time that always just sits up in my mind and never really has great expression when I do try to verbalize it.  I'm going to have a go here.

As woman we have all these visuals presented and attacking us daily of beauty and youth.  We inject ourselves with botox to have fewer wrinkles, lighten our hair to look younger, freeze our fat, lift our chins, lengthen our lashes, increase our chest size all in the name of beauty and youth.  I'd love to know how many billions of dollars are spent yearly on the "fountain of youth" by us mothers and how many hours are taken away from our children in pursuit of it.  And don't get me wrong here ladies, I'm a fan of looking your best, of trying your hardest to keep a healthy fit body, I'm not saying we shouldn't do that at all.  I just feel strongly that it's OKAY to get old.  There's something beautiful in being able to age gracefully. There something of value to be sought from us if we can fade into the sunset and let the youth bloom in their splendor.  A grandma, with her wrinkles and chins and age spots, surrounded and loved by her grandchildren or a mother in her forties, with circles under her eyes (plumper than she'd like to be due to hours carpooling her children), giving a hug and helping hand to that overwhelmed teeanager is every bit as beautiful to me as that young, beautiful 20/30 year old with the perfect figure.  As the old testament states in Ecclesiastes 3, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...He  hath made everything beautiful in his time."