Blessings Friday: Life is a Gift

While my age doesn’t normally bother me (I recently turned 57), some things about getting older confuse me—like the eternal human angst about existence, the biological changes impacting my health, and my emotional/psychological feelings about transformations visually apparent. I guess we could call this the Graying of Junie Moon. The last few days have been about accepting that fact.

Instead of worrying about things I cannot change (as in I’ll never be 21 again), I decided to celebrate myself as a woman and do what I normally consider frou-frou stuff. Appointments for manicure/pedicure and hair were made. Then I did something yesterday normally avoided like the plague—mall shopping.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

First, I was fitted for new bras at Macy’s, discovering like about 92% of the female population I’ve been wearing the wrong size for years. Basics in white, black, and nude were purchased, more colorful bras can be future buys if I decide to get sassy.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

I traipsed to the other end of the mall to visit the Chanel counter at Dillards. My purchases were a new lipstick (Rouge Allure in the color Voluptuous) and a jar of Précision Ultra Correction Eye Cream which I’d been testing in sample form morning and night for the last few weeks and decided I love.

While the consultant was messing around with picking out a good color for me, she invited me to an upcoming event “Defining Natural Beauty with Chanel”. I accepted her invitation as I need help figuring out what works for me now that my hair is gray and my skin tones have changed.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

A trip to Coach to see their new rings (at home I found the one I want on eBay at a much better price and bought it) and then a quick detour to Borders on my way out of the mall to pick up a Fodor’s guide for our Caribbean cruise in October. This may not sound like major mall shopping to you, but it’s all I can tolerate.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

While I’m quite excellent at keeping my clothes in good order, I periodically have to purge. So I spent this morning doing so and did it without mercy of any sort. The picture above is my armoire: top shelf is for socks, second shelf is for panties, and the bottom two shelves are for t-shirts and golf shirts.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

I use vintage padded lingerie organizer boxes to hold my small items (purchased years ago on eBay).


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

Only three dresser drawers are needed for my other things so I cleaned those out, too. A whole bagful of mostly unworn cashmere sweaters were purged. They are going to my sister—I kept only two cashmeres and a few other pieces as I don’t need sweaters that often in Arizona.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

This drawer holds my collection of swimsuits and pareos (sarongs). The pareo on the left is one of my treasures—an enormous pure silk piece hand-painted to feature a mermaid and sea life.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

Since I live mostly in pareos during the summer, I don’t need a lot of shorts but did keep a few. Skorts are my favorite for golf but I hang those in the closet.


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

A number of bags are going to the donation center. My thinking is that I have enough stuff, so I was very judicious in the purge (see #17 in the list below).


© June Scroggin, All Rights Reserved

After all this, how do I feel now? Wonderful! Instead of bemoaning my aging, I’m celebrating my transformation. And I realize that it's how I feel about myself, not how I appear to others, that really counts. My friend Kristie told me something the other day that really resonates: "Rest, relaxation, and self-care are NOT luxuries, June. They are survival skills."

My sister Connie emailed the following to me this morning which perfectly echoes my thoughts about celebrating living. It was written by Regina Brett, ~ 50+ years old, of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio who says, "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

1. "Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."