You are going to meet an old lady someday. Down the road 10, 20, 30 years- she's waiting for you. You will catch up to her. What kind of old lady are you going to meet?
She may be a seasoned, soft, and gracious lady. A lady who has grown old gracefully, surrounded by a host of friends--friends who call her blessed because of what her life has meant to them. Or she may be a bitter, disillusioned, dried-up, cynical old buzzard without a good word for anyone or anything-soured, friendless, and alone. The kind of old lady you will meet will depend entirely upon you.
She will be exactly what you make of her, nothing more, nothing less. It's up to you. You will have no one else to credit or blame. Every day, in every way, you are becoming more and more like that and talk more like her. You are becoming her. If you live only in terms of what you are getting out of life, the old lady gets smaller, drier, harder, crabbier, more self-centered. Open your life to others. Think in terms of what you can give and your contribution to life, and the old lady grows larger, softer, kinder, greater.
These little things, seemingly so unimportant now-attitudes, goals, ambitions, desires- are adding up inside where you cannot see them, crystallizing in your heart and mind. The point is, these things don't always show up immediately. But they will-sooner than you think. Someday they will harden into that old lady; nothing will be able to soften or change them then.
The time to take care of that old lady is right now. Today. Examine your motives, attitudes, goals. Check up on her. Work her over now while she is still pliable, still in a formative condition. Then you will be much more likely to meet a lovely, gracious old lady at the proper time.
An excerpt from The Power of a Woman's Words by Sharon Jaynes
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