Each year, as the new year approaches, I begin to think of all the changes, experiences, highs and lows of the year that rapidly begins to unravel in a pace that is fast as the speed of sound. I'm usually anxious to leave behind all the things that have gone wrong along with the bad spirits they came in with! However, I am always amazed at how many blessings I had overlooked or even at times how those very blessings had disguised themselves as "bad things". I was not spared nor immune against the trials and tribulations of life in the year 2007. Becoming an "alopecian" in 2007 seemed at first to be almost like I was being cursed for something. I just didn't understand it.
I know now that it was such a wonderful blessing. From this life altering experience, emerged the start of 2008 which is already shaping up to be what I think will be an amazing year. I learned so much about myself and how people view me as a person. Not having hair does bring out the worse in people, however, most people who encountered me as bald woman were able to see past my exterior and made some wonderful assessments of my interior. They even at times reminded me of the positive things I had forgotten about myself. In addition, they were able to point out positive things about me that I never knew I had.
My beautiful husband, children and friends gave me so much support and love. Most importantly, they didn't love me any less than when I had hair. We live in a society that focuses on appearance and views hair as a symbol of health and beauty. Think about it from this perspective for a moment...in the eyes of some, I had lost my health and my beauty. When I really thought about that notion alone, it seemed so ridiculous to place that much value on hair. So my next thought was, "So how do I convince people to look at me and be convinced that I still had my health and beauty?". The answer here is two-fold. Number one, I needed to look inside for my beauty and let it flow freely and naturally; in hopes that it will emanate, permeate, or whatever, to my exterior like a really sweet and desirable smelling perfume in which people couldn't ignore. And number two, if people just didn't get it, so be it! There is no one that I need to prove what positivity and beauty exists inside my heart and mind. The people who love me and care about me like my family and friends already know this and could care less if I have hair or not. I have embraced my newfound baldness...err, eh, I mean my newfound beauty and realized that it's OK to want to remember what it was like to have hair. Either way, I am going to continue to love myself, because if I don't, how could I possibly expect others to do the same. My slogan for the new year?...FEELIN' GREAT IN 2008!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!
