Out with the old??

OK- so there seems to be a "theme" I have going on right now. It is the stuff I struggle with. It is the stuff that gets under my skin that I can't seem to avoid as of late....

I mean, I tend to try to count blessings and focus on good and stay as positive as possible.....but.....

Well, here is the situation. I see EVERYwhere that in our society, our country, our towns, and cities, our movies, our sit coms..... virtually everywhere you look there is a  HUGE focus on YOUTH.

I love youth, don't get me wrong....I wish there was a fountain for it....sometimes.... No. Actually, I don't.

As I have gotten older, I have discovered that the years of my youth, though fun and frenzied and full of tons of energy- did not offer the peace, the understanding, the way of being able to look at a subject from so many points of view.

Growing up I had a couple of grandmothers and do you know something? When my life got rocky....when I was confused....when I needed comfort- it was my grandmothers who knew just what needed said- just what needed done- just how to help, exactly how I needed help for each situation.

Those two ladies had a lot of GRAY HAIR!!! They were 40 some years older than me.

Now, I am getting more and more gray hair. I am not a grandma yet- but I still look to those who have gone before me for advice, for help to point me in the right direction.....do you know WHY? They have the wisdom- the experience. The Bible says that gray hair is a sign of wisdom. Wisdom is a good thing- so gray hair must be also and so being older must be a good thing.

It feels good to me to be getting older- to have raised little ones, to be knee deep into teenagers, to be able to offer what I have learned about life through my own living of it to others who are younger. I am looking forward to becoming a grandma- and I hope that my grandchildren will feel that I am the kind of grandma I had. (Just to clarify- no, I am not in a hurry for my teenagers to have babies! I can wait!)

But, this is what scares me.... What if I start letting my grays show a little more? What if I add in some more wrinkles this summer from hanging out in the sun? Is my society going to shove me to the side? Discount who I am - who I have become with years of experience? Decide I have no value- no worth?

Whatever. I know I cannot decide for anyone else. But as for me, I choose to celebrate that there are older, more experienced, wise people in my life. I think AGING IS A BEAUTIFUL THING! I am thankful for my grandmas and people like them. I will never be ready to discard or shove to the side those who are older than me.