I have heard it said

I have heard it said that a woman has a choice.

As she ages, she can like either: Her body.

Or: Her face.

They say that when a woman reaches that certain age, a skinny body means a sunken face and a full face means a chubby body. 

Thus she cannot like both. How could she? Ewwww!

What then – on earth!!! – should she do?

~

I didn’t know I was lovely when I was younger. Many young women don’t. Many women hit middle age, look back and regret, “If only I had known. Why was I so blind?”

Mostly I rejected the notion of physical beauty. I found it obvious. To be born beautiful is pure luck. Why give it such merit? 

Even as a teen, I admired most the people who thought clearly and spoke truthfully, people who showed great compassion and held a high vision.

I never cared much about appearance, but about character. About presence and fortitude and willingness and heart.

~

It’s easy to love a perfect thing. Safe. Simple. No big deal.

To love the fading thing, the fragile thing, the confusing contradiction of a thing, the clumsy thing, the crude thing, the uncontrollable wayward thing, the outcast thing, the thing that never got a chance to reach its potential…

To love these things is the choice of character.

~

I choose: My face.

And: My body.

I hope you do too.

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