The poster on my bedroom wall growing up was funny. As I grew older I knew there was deeper meaning, or maybe an inside joke, I just wasn't wise enough to really get it. Now, I realize I've been living with it and by it all my life.
Picture a turkey staring at a beautiful, delicate bird. The caption: "To thine own self be true."
Good advice that has served me well at every age.
Now, as the curls grey and the smiles wrinkle, I find the more immersed I am in the roles of my age, the more myself I have become. And I'm enjoying every bit of it, not worried or wallowed as some my age might be. I'm a different kind of beautiful, not concerned with how I 'should' look, rather happy with how I do look. I'm a better kind of passionate, informed and directed at results. I'm an intentional wife, a devoted mom, a well-practiced professional. I don't have all the answers, but I don't have to. I'm my own version, flawed and still trying, succeeding some times, knowing there's always a next day to repaint the sky. I am confident and relieved to be so.
I am blessed again and again with the love of my family and the kindness of my friends. I have no where to turn because all that I need is here beside me and what is mine is truly mine, because I have gathered it all as my own self. What is lost belongs to the wind anyway. There is a watch over me which is whole and constant.
It's a good, good life, with lots to sweet and taste. And, still, among all the many things I savor in my better-wine years, lessons from my mother linger on my palate.
Picture a turkey staring at a beautiful, delicate bird. "To thine own self be true."
Delicate and sweet. Life is difficult but also beautiful. Thank you for the reminders, C.
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