I hear you Holly when you talk about ageing and for me, I suppose its been taught over the years by society that memory problems, aches and pains, saggy skin and ...double chins are all signs that you are no longer at your prime. With that, the meaning that stands in the room like an elephant that no one wants to acknowledge that with age, your  pereived worth is some how becoming 'less'.

I love how you talked about your cat and through that little fuffly beings eyes, saw you for the real person you are, something to be grateful for, a light spirit (look at the words you used, even if you wrote them with a different meaning in mind, thats what I'm getting here, - your a person who is full of light, a light worker, and though you might not see that through your eyes, you can see it through your cats which is just so beautiful and cool!). Your husbands cat, appreciates you in a different way, its demands suggest you are "worthy" of its attention. For a cat thats a big thing right ????

Anyhow, all this got me thinking, particularly the double chin reference. For myself I believe that these kind of things have some kind of metaphorical meaning to help us on our journey. Its not just age that brings these chin experiences about. So I looked up sayings that we have such as 'Keep your chin up' (don't get down and depressed about negative things happening, the old 'The universe is working for you, not against you') Does having a double chin mean we had not been playing attention?, and let that chin drop? Have I succumed to depression and despair more that I needed to? So now, in order to 'bring back' those chins in to 'oneness' we need to keep our head raised (which, strangely enough does remove that majority of that double chin).

The other saying 'take it on the chin' - meaning to take it bravely, not to shy way from adversity or problems that come your way.

So here I am, reading your experience and being enlightened towards my own. I'm having 'holy wow' moments and realising that the changes I need to make in order to be more confident, and have a happier live are right in front of my face... well, right on my face... right on the bottom of my face...Point is, its been staring me in the mirror all this time. Lift your head, smile more but most of all, find ways to change the narrative I had going on in my head regarding my worth, (or what others might see with my looks). See my self as my cats see me (I have three little fur buddies).

I am so happy you wrote this post, and shared your experience. Today I go forward a little differently, being more mindful of how I see myself. So.. Thank you Holly for taking the time to write and be honest in your experience and sharing. It has really been appreciated.

Blessings

Eve

Thank you responding to my story.  Your comments  are kind, insightful, and uplifting.  They made my day!