Seven Years and Blooming

I knew I had to get my driver’s license renewed when I turned fifty, but I honestly never thought they would take another picture. After all, why bother…the old one looked just fine. So, I was shocked seven years ago when the woman blandly said, “Step back stand on the line, look at the camera.” I argued…”WHAT YOU MEAN STAND ON THE LINE, LOOK AT THE CAMERA! The old picture is just fine”. She looked down at the old license, looked at me (while smacking her Trident) and said, YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE THAT, STAND ON THE LINE.
When it arrived, I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea how bad. The woman staring back at me was a stranger…an old woman with gray and straw blonde twined together through straggly locks; pale wrinkled, saggy skin; an oversized man’s shirt; and the convict’s scowl. I looked 90! Not even close to 50!
At this point, I realized that my fast paced lifestyle kept me from looking too closely at the woman in the mirror and I had no idea what she had become. That picture, now a source of great encouragement, began to haunt me. I had proudly told friends that I would not care when I began to gray and wrinkle, but looking down at this woman made me see that I had just flat lied. I did care.
This blog is to bring encouragment and ideas to all of you who have stared into reality….whether from a driver’s license or a mirror. Hopefully, others will share their ideas and journeys. My journey, now seven years long has resulted in some retailers actually questioning if it is my real license. I put it beside my faculty ID in my wallet just to deal with those times when someone thinks I am pulling one over on them, and then I usually walk away smiling with immense pleasure.

Finally, I want to assure you that my journey does not include plastic surgery or vast amounts of money. I am not working for any of the products or retailers I will endorse or critique. This is my real walk and what I have learned. I truly believe that by sharing it, I can help so many other women who are stuck in a rut and feel FRUMPY. I have chosen to keep my identity a secret, because I do have friends who would say to care so much about our outsides is trivial and unnecessary.  Though I agree that beauty and confidence begin on the inside, I also have discovered that looking great on the outside helps our confidence and is not a shallow pursuit.  For now, we will get this party started, see how it goes, and maybe I will reveal my true identity at some point. Until now, I am the REVIVED, the over 50 woman who is happy to say that the old picture no longer is ME.