Maybe I'm Just More Mature...

Once upon a time, I was a teenager. And when I was a teenager, I CARED. A LOT.

Not about current events or politics or environmental issues. I cared about how I looked. My hair, my clothes, my makeup...these were my top 3 concerns as a teenager.

I suppose that made me a pretty average teenager! My biggest battles were with my hair -- it's very curly, coarse, and thick, and I was reluctant to embrace it in its natural state! Throughout high school I experimented with various ways of taming it, most ending up in frustration the minute I walked out the door! Humidity...ugh!

For some reason, when I was younger, what I looked like on the outside mattered far more than it probably should have. While inside I was a bit of a mess, I did what I could to make sure that outside looked at least okay. I made sure that, before I walked out the door, I was fairly "put together". It took a bit of time and attention, although I must say, compared to what I've experience with various teenage girls in my life, I was WAY low maintenance! But it really did matter to me what I looked like.

I caught a look at myself in the mirror a few minutes ago, and my how times change!! Sure, I still care how I look, but it seems that, any more, if I'm going to invest my time in getting done up, it better be for a pretty good reason! Like church! Or dinner out! Or getting on a plane!

I'm not sure when this happened! I'm a bit surprised at how I allowed myself to look when I went to a small group meeting at my church this evening! No make-up, most of my hair pulled back in a frizzy pony-tail...not my best look, to be sure! (Yes, my clothes were clean! Whew!!)

So I gotta ask myself -- what's going on here? Why the sharp drop in standards? Maybe it's summer...you know, it's more laid-back, slower paced, too blasted hot to think about putting on make-up! It's been awfully humid here in North Texas. That has to have affected my results!

Maybe it's some new-found deep level of maturity -- as I grow in confidence in myself I find myself less concerned about externals. After all, peace comes from within and has nothing to do with whether or not I'm wearing spring or fall eye shadow colors. Honestly, I've never really understood the difference there!

As good as that all sounds, I fear the reason may be truly, utterly, shamefully simple -- I'm just bein' lazy! I have a lot to do and never enough time to do it...primping tends to fall down the list a bit! Sure, the heat affects that, and it's true to some degree that I'm not basing my self-approval or confidence on whether or not my make-up is picture perfect. That's a good thing! But at the end of the day, the truth remains -- I just didn't feel like messing with it!

To the ladies in my small group meeting earlier this evening -- sorry! Don't take it personally! I just ran out of time! I'll do better next time...I think!!