Me?  I was driving one day - all by myself - and, as I was making a turn, the sun hit my face just right (or wrong).  There, in all their glory, were lines on my face as bold as a neon sign.

My first reaction was, "How did that guy get in my car and is he going to rob me?"  I quickly realized that the robbing had already taken place, slowly but surely.  I was reminded of a Rolling Stones song in which Mick Jagger sings, "Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman's face.  Hours are like diamonds, don't let them waste."

Don't get me wrong, for the most part I really don't have a problem with aging.  I just don't want to feel old.  I have always felt like a 16 year old in an ever aging body.  However, when the sunlight hit my amber waves of skin around my eyes, I must admit, I was a bit taken aback by the scene.  I was okay with my graying, thinning hair.  Though I don't like it, I have been receptive to the fact that my body creaks and aches in ways that I never experienced before.  But the eye thing?  That's a whole different matter.

I was then reminded about some of the people that attended my thirty year class reunion in Phoenix in 2007.  I received e-mails prior to the event, indicating that some of my former classmates had been dieting and preparing in other ways to see friends that they haven't seen since high school. 

What is it about human nature that recoils at the inevitability of aging?  Once upon a time, people with gray hair were viewed with respect and perceived to have wisdom.  Now we try everything we can to hide every little strand of silver that graces our mops!

I think that the idea of perpetual youth goes back to at least the late 1400's or early 1500's where we read that the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, explored what is now the state of Florida in search for the mythical Fountain of Youth.  I've been to Florida in recent years.  If there was ever a Fountain of Youth there, it's been sucked dry a very long time ago.

But I digress.

It is only natural to want to have the look and stamina of our youth.  However, engaging in hot pursuits to look young can rob us of enjoying each and every day.  The result was put best by Benjamin Franklin who said, "Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five".  Whether we burn up energy going to the extreme in trying to look younger than our years or sulk because we can do nothing about our appearance, we wind up failing to enjoy today.

Why I say this is that, at the same reunion I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, I noticed that some of those "kids" who seemed to be embarrassed by their appearance or status in life acted uncomfortable.  Conversely, those that seemed to have the most fun were those who didn't dye what hair they had left or weren't as skinny as they were when they were eighteen.

That latter group of people "got it".  We are what we are.  While there is always room for improvement, and we should healthily pursue those improvements, why not enjoy each day that we have and make the absolute most of them?

In the mean time, I'll try to come to terms with the ripples around my eyes.