Getting the Hang of This

Maybe, just maybe, I’m getting the hang of the getting dressed in the morning thing – learning to take what I have and make it work for me.  A dear friend loaned me three pantsuits.  They are beautiful – the pants are lined, and they are very comfortable.  But she and I are built very differently.  She likes loose tunic-style tops to camouflage her belly, and I like things fitted to show off the waist I finally have.  I went to a thrift store, and for very little money purchased some belts.  Today I have on the black pantsuit, with a fuchsia pink elastic belt.  I was nervous – is it too much?  Am I trying to hard?  But everyone who has seen the outfit has commented on how good it looks, so I must be doing SOMETHING right!  It is so nice to be able to show off a waist.  And when I pair it with the fuchsia earrings I bought while were on vacation – I’m loving it!

I think I’m going to have to invest in a full-length mirror.  I studiously avoided mirrors for years, other than to make sure I didn’t have scare hair.  Now, I find myself wanting to see the whole picture.  In my past, getting ready for work meant throwing on clothes – and making sure they weren’t dirty and/or wrinkled.  Today, there is a lot more to it.  Does this outfit do for me what I want it to do?  Does it emphasize the good things?  Does it mask the things I don’t like?  Does it make me feel good?  And I’m still new enough at all of this that I’m unsure of myself many times.  (I know that sounds weird – how is someone nearly 50 years old “new” at anything?)

I wish changing my attitude was as easy to do as changing my clothes.  I wish that I could just say, “I don’t like when I act like that,” then take off the attitude and replace it with something that looks and feels better.  Maybe one of these days, I will get the hang of that, too.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  (Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV)