The first time it happened was when I had a passport photo taken back in February. Wow! I thought. I look old. Probably it’s just a cheap camera. I don’t look like this in my bathroom mirror.
The second time was when I had to submit a photo for the cruise line. Jenna took a picture of me and again I saw “old.” I probably should have fixed my hair and put on makeup. Oh, well. My bathroom mirror is still on my side.
The last time was at Disneyland. The first time you use your ticket they take your picture. And every time you enter the parks after that, the picture pops up to prove that you are the legal ticket holder. Over the entire two days we spent there, I was repeatedly confronted by myself looking old.
There is a certain amount of despair that comes with seeing yourself as “old.” I started feeling old. I started feeling sorry for myself. And for the first time ever, I started to be afraid of the future.
There is a cure: stop looking at myself all the time. Facing forward and enjoying what I have and what I can do. And remembering Who is in charge of my life, past, present and future, … and my face. I don’t want to be so distracted by the one that I forget to enjoy the other.
***
Oh, how sweet the light of day,
And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!
Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.
Take delight in each light-filled hour,
Remembering that there will also be many dark days
And that most of what comes your way is smoke.
Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 The Message
***
“As any magician knows,
it is not the smoke and mirrors that trick people;
it is that the human mind makes assumptions
and misunderstands them as truths.”
Adrienne Brodeur