Moving from Outward to Inward Beauty

I went to get my hair cut, colored and styled today at the local beauty salon. After age 50 hair loses its color and the gray begins to creep out making you look .... OLD.  

I am not sure why they call it a beauty salon . . . every time I go and have my hair done I have to go home and make adjustments to the style. I walk in looking like me and leave looking like I am wearing Dolly Parton’s wig. Today was especially traumatic.

I have been looking for a new style. You know viewing photos of women over 50 to find something attractive for me. My research, taught me a couple of things about the older hair do. Did you realize that older women often wear their hair to the chin length to distract viewers from the wrinkles on their neck?  And bigger hair makes wrinkles decrease. A woman looks more youthful when she carries and extra 20-30 lbs.  

Today my 20-year-old hairstylist made some enhancements to my hair. She even teased my hair. Do you remember teasing? It is not called teasing anymore, it is called “back combing.” She said it was “very popular.” Ugh!  My Mama used to get her hair teased and I hated it!!!! Mama also went to bed with toilet paper wrapped around her hair to “keep it set.”

Aging is a time of change. When I have looked in the mirror over the years, I have seen many faces staring back at me. Some I have loved, some I have not even recognized. What do you see when you stand in front of the mirror?  Is your appearance changing?

One of the things in life we can count on is change. Change is never easy.  Aging, moving, new friends, graduating school, getting a new job all these things require resilience in the face of change. Too often we take ourselves too seriously.

Perhaps our outward view is not an accurate picture of our inward self. What would it take to see our inward self – to acknowledge the beautiful person we are inside our skin? Take some time today and write down five things you like about yourself. If you get stuck, ask someone what he or she likes about you. We all have strengths and even if we do not see them, other people do.

eautiful person we are inside our skin? Take some time today and write down five things you like about yourself. If you get stuck, ask someone what he or she likes about you. We all have strengths and even if we do not see them, other people do.

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