I’ve been thinking about the Facebook 10 Year challenge. Many of my friends posted pictures of themselves, then and now, and most honestly looked the same. Life has taken its toll on some, especially those who have gone through cancer or some other traumatic life changing event. I commented on several posts with encouraging remarks and then a memory hit me.

About four years ago my granddaughter Ava and I were putting on a little make up. She looked in the mirror to check out the blush and light dusting of eyeshadow that we had applied. Suddenly Ava said, “Nonnie, you look like me! But I don’t have any wrinkles!” I laughed and said that was true, and that I loved my wrinkles because they map the story of my life. I LOVED the fact that she said that I look like her. To be honest, the wrinkle comment caught me off guard. But you know kids and how brutally honest they are.

So, I took Ava’s realistic view of my face, our likeness and the cold-hard truth, and wove together a story for her; the story of Ava thru the lines on my face. I said that some of the wrinkles were from sleepless nights as a new mother. More lines came when her father as a five-year-old had a head injury that caused the first trip to the emergency room. I told her about the last trip to the ER when her daddy broke his arm as a 13-year-old. I relived the ordeal; the break was so bad he had to have surgery. We examined more lines that sprang up from raising three boys and surviving all of their shenanigans. We talked about the lines that come from laughing and how nobody on this earth can make me laugh like one of her uncles. We talked about the lines from sadness and the loss of loved ones that Ava never met or will not possibly remember. We talked about her birth and the birth of her big brother and how those lines of joy are my favorite lines in the world.

We will age and I know that some people choose to have fillers and Botox to combat the signs of aging and that is OK! In fact, it’s great if you want to look as young as you feel. This is a NO judgement blog! The best way to ward off the signs of aging is exercise. Nothing in this world will give you a glow like a good work-out. Whether it is a cardio class or a yoga class, when you get the blood and lymph flowing you are nourishing your body with anti-aging benefits. In my Monday night Kundalini class, we explore many Kriyas, a fancy word for exercise sets, to create vitality, increase energy and flood the body with oxygen.

If you have read my blogs in the past, you know I will always tie in kindness somehow. Here is a quote from one of the most beautiful women in the world: “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others, for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” Audrey Hepburn.

Grace and Peace,
Zella Marie