Dream Big 15

What is a number? How do we use them in our daily lives? I doubt we use algebra, or calculus to do simple things, but how do we use numbers in our daily lives? The first numbers we see when we wake up is the digital time on our alarm clocks. Perhaps those early morning digits make give us a great start to our day, or cause us to panic and scramble out of the bed because we're running late. Those dreaded numbers signifying that our day has turned to chaos, and that sets an example of how the rest of our day will turn out. The second numbers of the day may in fact be on our time card as we punch in at work. If we're on time we have no worries, but if we're late we see it when our paycheck comes at the end of the work week. Numbers then get subtracted, and we no longer have what we had anticipated on. No matter how hard we try we can't get our day to move any faster as we look again at the digits on a clock; waiting for when we can punch out for the work day and finally go home. If you're like me you have a set schedule to feed kids, pets, and get everyone settled down to bed for the night. I on the other hand try to have at least a couple hours for myself to relax and unwind from the craziness of the day in which ended up with a late start. I tend to enjoy a nice wine to sip while watching a little television. The best wines are older wines, a lovely vintage with a robust fragrance, and a rich flavor to quench a starving pallet. I often wonder as I swirl the dark liquid in my glass what makes it better as it ages? I believe the same question can apply for women as the old saying goes, "women do get better with age". But what make the woman become so? Why is age such a defying quality with a woman? Women mature at a faster rate than men, a biological fact. Of course not all woman try to keep themselves up. To be honest many of them let themselves go. They forget they are beautiful creatures, but some simply don't care. As a rule a normal healthy female if she takes care of herself, eating the correct foods, avoiding drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, she can stay looking young and vibrant. Those careless acts of poor choices, harsh sun, and poor nutrition can cause a woman to not only look her age, but can seemingly make her appear to be even older than what she is. Realistically, let's look at the females that do take great care of themselves inside and out. Careful eating habits, and avoiding bad habits can help to become a natural form of the fountain of youth. But why when a beautiful woman who appears to be far younger than she is is punished for the number she bares? Age is oftentimes a curse. Some people can't look past the two digits that follow your name on an ID, it becomes this permanent marker that's been scribbled on your forehead. What is this, but a form of discrimination? I personally am always guessed to be mid to late twenties. In actuality I've just recently turned forty. I eat right, watch how much alcohol I consume, I don't smoke, I'm drug free and always have been. I use an abundance of sunscreen and equal amounts of moisturizer. I drink my body weight in water and green tea, then I walk a minimum of two miles per day. Even with my looks being that of a twenties-something, people only see a number when it's on a form. I really wish before someone makes that judgement that even though I don't look my age, I'm only known by number. I am by no means saying being forty is a bad thing, but when you are automatically put in that bracket before someone sees you, or gets to know you for the talented person you are, it makes it tough, real tough. Sometimes I don't feel worthy enough to model, but I don't want to stop because I'm not some hard bodies young thing that's never squeezed a baby out of her vagina and had to work her ass off to get her post-baby-body back after having a kid. We are automatically a Milf after that point of we look great after kids. I hate that acronym, and I don't want to be judged as a cougar either. I have worked hard to have my body that I do after having five children, and I'm proud of it, but I'm not going to be dubbed as a set stereotype either simply because of my age. Numbers don't defy who I have been, or who I am now, and they won't defy who I will be in the future. I challenge those in the social media, big conglomerates, and Hollywood to stop judging a book by its cover. This isn't a library, and women aren't labeled on their spine like the dooey decimal system. Women have different degrees of beauty and it doesn't take a librarian to read it out loud and to see them for what they are. Women truly become more beautiful with age, as the vintage wines they may drink. Yes age does come with maturity, and with that comes knowledge, but with that comes power, a special kind of power called experience. You cannot bottle it, and you can't obtain it overnight, but you can with time learn to count on it. Age may after all just be a number, but it's the beauty behind it that really matters. All of my dreams I've counted down over the years, giving up on so many at a time believing that they would never come to pass. I feel in my heart that I'm going to defy the odds of ageism and make my remaining dreams come true. I may be forty, but I'm far from dead yet. I am a mature woman who knows what she wants, and I'm going to dream big and make it happen.