Beauty with Aging!

A lot has happened since my last post...and hopefully I will be able to share soon.  So in the midst of everything going on, I am trying to keep my anxiety to a manageable level by keeping up with my walking.  This morning, as I walked through through town, I had to stop and snap a few pics of the beautiful, old oaks around the Episcopal Church.  They are gorgeous!  

I bet these have weathered some tough times through out the years.  The gnarly branches look as though they have been twisted back and forth, probably through several major storms.  

This morning there were two squirrels scampering about the limbs, don't know if they were playing with each other or scurrying about getting ready for stormy weather.  I have always heard that animals can tell if bad weather is approaching.  I am hoping these two were simply full of energy and happy to be playing on this ole tree, and not in a tizzy trying to get ready for something we don't want to see around here.  

Anyway, stopping by these old oaks this morning got me to thinking, with age comes beauty.  Beauty in that the outside appearance reflects our experiences that make us who we are.  When these beauties were planted or seeded by the wind, they probably would not be been described as "beautiful trees".  But now they are beautiful old trees.  For this oak, the passing of time is revealed by its size and twisted branches, showing how it weathered its life.  For us, we have our scars, gray hair and wrinkles...showing how we've weathered our lives. The scars, wrinkles, twisted or gnarled bodies...they are a representation of what we have been through, of what we have seen and experienced.  To live life's experiences and wonders, well that is beautiful. 

So, in this era of fashion and beauty, with ads of young, beautiful people without scars, wrinkles, sags, or graying or receding hair, and "anti aging creams, lotions, potions, etc.", why don't we view aging as a beautiful experience.  The next time you see an elderly man or woman, embrace their beauty... those wrinkles you see are real beauty marks.