When I am not looking in the mirror, I feel no different than I did 25 years ago. I still feel like that young woman with the dark auburn hair and olive complexion. My dreams are still the same dreams. I still harbor hope for a better life for myself and my children. I still do not know what the future is going to bring to me. I surely am not ready for a rocking chair yet!

My physical package has changed but my inner self is still new and thirsty for life's pleasures and challenges when the dawn brings in a new day. I am still not finished with me yet. There are so many things I want to know. I have a long way to go to accomplish my dreams. Life is passing by so quickly. Each day seems to fly by faster than the day before.

Is my mirror a reflection of me, or maybe just a forewarning not to take every moment for granite?

When you are young time is forever, but as you grow older time passes so quickly. When you figure the average American lives 77 years, then I only have approximately 20 years left to complete myself. That is a pretty sobering fact when you figure for 57 years have already passed by and I am far from completion. By my calculations I need another 50 years to maybe be satisfied or completed with me.

We are always told to take time to smell the roses, or embrace the moment. Just do not embrace for to long, or get lost in the rose garden because before you know it you are looking in the mirror wondering who that is.

Maybe we should live more by the philosophy,"make hay while the sun shines".

Who is that in the mirror? It is me! It is a person who has worked hard at making necessary changes in her life to become a better life. It is a person who has overcome drug and alcohol abuse, spouse abuse and a major life threatening eating disorder.

No the person in the mirror has not amassed wealth or made any great contributions to society, but today I am a person who has a sense of personal value. Today my children and husband have a different respect for me and value me differently. Today I am new.

So when I am looking in the mirror today, I am looking at a stranger. I have worked hard to be different and better. Now I need to get to know me, because I am no longer that young woman with the dark auburn hair and olive complexion. That is the person I worked so hard not to be anymore. Today my beauty is inner.