Thursday, April 29, 2010

Its all in the mind

I'm heading out to the gym this morning because later I must go shopping for a swim suit and ew. I'm hoping the gym will do something magical today to make the swim suit shopping bearable. Is anyone else surprised when they see themselves in the three way mirror? Do you find yourself thinking, 'That's not what I look like?' I remember when I could buy a bathing suit because I liked the color or the pattern. I didn't have to think about things like fabric and holding things in and covering things up. Everything was right where it should be. And there was nothing extra. Now it is all about tricking the eye.

Of course today I may be distracted from the swim suit nightmare by the blinding whiteness of my legs. It has not exactly been sun bathing weather in these parts...34 degrees yesterday morning. Yeah. We're supposed to hit 80 degrees on Saturday so there's hope. Monday I will visit my wonderful hairdresser who will perform a little magic of his own and make my hair look sun kissed too. The battle against aging is harder some days than others.

Most days I feel much younger than I actually am. But very soon I will find myself standing amidst a gaggle of 20-something girls. And there is nothing quite like standing amidst a gaggle of 20-something girls, tanned and slim in their adorable little sundresses, to make you realize that no siree, you are not one of them an.y.more. Whoa, when did that happen? How did that happen? Wasn't that just me? Apparently not.

Oh I know with age comes wisdom and lines around the eyes mean you've lived and blah blah blah. It's not that I dislike my age. I don't...in fact I like it very much. It's just that what I see on the outside is not what I feel on the inside. And sometimes that is disconcerting. And standing in front of a three-way mirror without a tan, in need of highlights and dressed in a swimsuit would for sure be one of those times.

Y'all have a great day too!


19 comments:

  1. Amen, Sista! You speak the sad truth. I am right there with ya. Praying for you to see your beautiful self through God's eyes today. Blessings, SusanD

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  2. I definitely feel younger than I am. And I am sure there are many times when I act much younger than I am...ahem...but, do I really care? No! I plan on being the most immature octogenarian ever. And I may still be wearing a bikini then too. Sorry everyone!

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  3. Oooh a hard task indeed, I hate shopping for swimsuits, I wish you much luck ;-)
    Have a great day.

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  4. Ha! Well, I am 28 and I, too, look for swimsuits that are full of trickery. :)

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  5. I remember sitting across the table from my then 80 year old grandmother and she leaned across and said, "I may look old on the outside, but inside, I feel 20."

    It was such a cool insight into her personality because I had never heard her speak of her looks before. She always looked like a million bucks to me.

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  6. So so true. Once I tried wearing sunglasses to "soften" the 3 way and ya know, get a feel for what I would look like once tanned up. Ha
    Yeah.
    Didn't work. :)

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  7. Hello Twin Sister,

    OK, maybe not, but you just said everything I feel kinda like twins do. I feel just like you in all of the aforementioned topics. Thanks for that, Sis. lol Seriously! I used to don a bikini back in the day, not so long ago it seemed, and now, fagetaboutit!

    I hope you find something that you love! Enjoy the gaggle of girls. :-)

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  8. Carrie B's comment about wearing sunglasses cracked me up. Ha! I just read it and had to comment. I'm going to be trying that trick even though it doesn't work.

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  9. You´re so right! That is the biggest problem that I have with my age. I feel so much younger on the inside. And when we have to buy a bathing suit, it is all the more obvious! So well said. I hope you find something nice though.

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  10. A very special friend of mine always said you are only as old as you feel. And my reply was yep and sometimes I feel 100. Not usually but sometimes...
    My daughter is trying the spray on tanning, where you go in and they spray you. It actually looked really good, she is so fair skinned. My luck tho, I would be allergic to what's in the spray...lol.
    until next time... nel

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  11. You have fun with that shopping trip. The white legs is a bummer isn't it? But, I've never been a big tanning bed person. Too much skin cancer in the fam. My DIL gave me a wonderful compliment a few weeks ago though. She used to tan all the time and said she stopped because she saw how "great" (a matter of opinion) my skin looked compared to my friends who tanned all the time. So see, white is RIGHT! Have a great day!

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  12. Is it that time of year AGAIN?? I live in California and I don't own a half way decent bathing suit. I mean they are "decent" just not decent...if you get my drift!!

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  13. What ever you do DON'T try on a swimsuit wearing black socks...makes the whole experience so much worse!

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  14. I face that everyday. I look in the mirror and wonder where I went and how could I let this happen to me. From what I can see you don't have anything to worry about. One thing I know is that those 20 years olds judging you!

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  15. You're only as young as you feel! Isn't it amazing how our kids are getting older but we're not? My guess is that the girls will be hoping they look as good as you when they're that old! (hee, hee!) :)

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  16. I can totally relate. You forgot to mention the varicose veins in the legs, but you may not have that problem. I definitely have that problem. Yes, my legs are as white as lillies too. I bought new suits last year, so I am going to skip bathing suit shopping this year. Thank you very much!!! Every year is too traumatic! Love & blessings from NC!

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  17. Amen and Amen, Sista! I've been working my rear off at the gym... Deep sigh... Sometimes I wonder if the perfect swimsuit is even out there for me now?? At least we can keep a sense of humor about it, eh? ;)

    (As for the move... there's a possibility we may 'not' be moving. ;) I'll be updating as soon as I know more. Living in limbo is no fun either. Just sayin'. Thanks for checkin' on me. ;)

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  18. As a guy, I feel completely inappropriate commenting on this post. But I did. :)

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  19. Ha! My first thought was, "Amen, Sister!" Then I click on the comments and see that the first commentor felt the same way! Love it!

    I've already written about my white legs this year (poor blog readers) and spent an hour on the treadmill today in hopes of looking just a tad better in that swimsuit this summer.

    Vanity & Vexation! :)

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