Younger

Some days I feel very old. But most days, thankfully, I feel healthy, active, alert and thriving...until I look in the mirror! The mirror, if I believe the reflection, tells me a different story - one about the effects of sun, gravity, time and travail. My skin no longer reveals the soft smoothness and elasticity of youth. Instead, it is more of a road map with the bumps, rough spots and scars that tell the story of my life's journey. I remember, as a child, holding my mother's hand and examining its pores, veins, freckles and sun spots. As I look at my hands, I am reminded of my mother's. This is not a bad thing. There is wisdom, encouragement, soothing, and love in these hands, in the stories of this life, in the landscape of this soul. So, I can look at my reflection and smile. In that smile and in the sparkle of my eyes, the active, alert and thriving inner me shines out. Yes, the outer shell is covered with the barnacles (as my mom calls them) of my experiences in the sea of this life, but I am deeper, wiser, and more understanding for these experiences.

Younger

Objects in the mirror are
younger than they appear.
The reflection is a bit distorted
a bit dimmed and blurred.
No, it is not a true reflection of
the image, the beauty, the memory,
The heart, the soul, the spirit.
What was once there is still there.
But don’t look too close
at the flaws and blemishes.
They are merely the road map
to the inner adventure.
To the life that was, that is and is yet to be.

Look to the story beyond the reflection
To the wisdom and truth beyond the mirror.