Healthy Aging-Really?

Buzz, BUZZ, BUZZ! I slowly rolled over and hit the snooze button. “How could seven hours fly by that quickly?” I said to myself. I climbed out of bed and headed to the potty. I rubbed my eyes to focus and ran my hand through my hair. Boy, was I feeling bad, but of course, today is my 40^th birthday. I stepped into the bathroom, flipped the light on and looked directly in the mirror. I screamed! “How could this be?” I said to myself. I closed the door, striped to my birthday suit and looked in the full-length mirror at my entire body. All the things they tell you about your body changing, is true. My eyes were puffy, I had wrinkles around my lips, how can that happen overnight? I looked down and saw that my breast were sagging, actually sagging! Overnight, I have transformed into a sagging breasted women with puffy eyes. All I kept saying to myself was how can that happen? Now my breasts were at my rib cage, my navel was at my pubic line and worst of all, my butt was sitting on top of my thighs. “Where did my hips go?” “Do you wake up at 40 and this is what happens?” I popped the shower on, brushed my teeth and hoped that once I got out of the shower, I would realize that this was just a silly dream.

NOPE! It was real; everything I saw in the mirror was still there! Sagging boobs to droopy butt! Does gratuity pull your eyes, breasts and butt down all in one night? That’s it! I ate something bad last night and it caused this chain reaction in my body! I stared in the mirror and asked, “Should I join a gym?” No answer. Maybe surgery, that’s what I will do. I felt better already, and then I realized that I couldn’t afford surgery. What was I thinking? I really don’t want to go to the gym either. Maybe I should do some research, am I going through mid-life crisis? I thought only men did that. Maybe I should ask my husband, but if I point out my new surprises he might not like them. If I don’t point them out, then he may not even notice them.

Upon leaving the bathroom I wondered if I liked this new me, I ran back to the full-length mirror, stood in front of it naked. Yuk! All I kept thinking is “is this really my body or is the mirror lying?” I ventured back out of the bathroom to see my husband sitting on the bed putting on his shoes.

“Hi honey,” he said to me. “Happy Birthday! I got you a surprise but you have to wait until tonight to get it” he said as he kissed me on the mouth. Marriage is a wonderful thing, but I want my marriage to be the best, when I look this way, I am concerned. Do I need counseling? Will he divorce me when he sees what I see?

“I don’t know if I can handle anymore surprises today.” I said softly.

“What dear?” he responded.

“Do I look any different to you?” I asked him

“Different? No, but are you okay?” he said

“You see nothing unusual about me?” I asked again

“Other than your naked and I am not?” he said jokingly

“Answer me, am I different?” I said frustrated

“No honey, you are perfectly normal, I see nothing wrong with you, okay?” he said and hurried out of the room.

I ran back to the full-length mirror and looked at myself, yep, I was different. I was 40 years old, married and realized that I would never be twenty or thirty again. I realized that I have things I want too accomplish but haven’t. I looked in that mirror and notice that I haven’t really taken care of my body. I always thought I would have time, but I never TOOK the time. I stood there so long that I began to become conscious that I am 40 years old! I have accomplished something’s but not all things I set out to do. I stood there long enough to realize that I still have time to do the things that I want to do.

I looked in the mirror hard and said “I may be forty, I may be drooping a little but I am alive and I have many years left in me!” I turned around and looked in the full-length mirror again and saw that I was a different person! Physical changes have taken place but mentally I am ready to conquer the world. As I stared at myself, I recognize that I am ready to be a better person and to live life to it’s fullest, not let it pass me by. I walked out of the bathroom and knew I had one thing I needed to do today, go shopping!