The reflection in the mirror shows new lines in my forehead and gray hair creeping along the side of my head and spots in my beard.
Colleagues talk about using a filter on an app that is supposed to make you look like a teenager again. I have a mild interest in checking it out but figure the beard will throw it off kilter.
Though I have thought about how I first grew one at about 17.5 though I didn’t keep it for long. Would grow one periodically through the years and then shave it off.
Sometimes I grew or cut it because I wanted to and sometimes because whomever I was dating made a request.
The latter didn’t happen often because it irritated me, I look as I look and you like/love me because of my other attributes.
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The news said Gordon Lightfoot died today, he was 84 and in the picture I saw cleanshaven.
Now I look at my face and sometimes consider shaving to see if I look younger. It is more curiosity than vanity as I have earned every line and hair not colored black.
Though I suppose it helps that people usually guess my age as being younger than I am.
Speak Or Stay Silent
There have been two big moments in which I have had to consider whether it is better to speak my mind or stay silent.
It is harder to remain silent because my nature is closer to that described by Virgil and because there are some opportunities that would be very painful if I missed out because of my silence.
Still there is truth in people who speak about the importance of timing. You can hurt your chances by expressing yourself as easily as you can by refusing to speak.
It is an interesting conundrum.
Some would respond by saying what is meant for you won’t go past you and others would say you miss every shot you don’t take.
The rub isn’t what some say but what we say about such things. It is the question of balancing the advice and heart and head and then taking action.
My daughter and I spoke about this not long ago and I told her I would always offer advice if she wanted it but to remember that she has to live with whatever she chooses.
“You are going to have to do hard things. You’ll face a variety of challenges and doing the right thing may be painful but there are rarely good ways to avoid the hard stuff, it will find you.
So you do the best you can with what you have got and try to make decisions that allow you to sleep at night.”
She is a smart young lady and I am confident she’ll make good decisions and that sometimes she’ll fail just like we all do.
I have always taught the children it is easy to win and hard to lose. But character comes from loss and it is more important to me they learn how to get back up.
Live hard and love hard and you should end up where you need to be or so goes the idea. No one said it would be easy but if you have sense of self and believe you are worth spending time with the right people will agree to do so.
Though sometimes you may have to help them open their eyes or perhaps you are the one who needs to open yours.
Either way, opportunity exists if you allow it to.
