Wrinkles

It is a fact that sun exposure and cigarette smoking contribute to the premature aging of skin. But isn’t it also true that smiling creates creases on your face?

Every woman knows that wrinkles are frowned upon in the world of beauty.

I hope that I am never hastily judged by my facial wrinkles. I’m nearing late thirties and am guilty of worshiping the sun every now and, well, often, but I’ve never smoked one cigarette in my life (and darn proud). But if people look close enough, okay, so you don’t even have to look closely, you can probably tell from across a crowded room, that I have quite large “crows feet” and “parentheses” on my face. For you youngsters and frowners, crows feet are the sunburst of wrinkles on the outside corner of each of my eyes, and the parentheses are the deep lines that begin at the outer edge of my nostrils and jet downward toward my jaw line. I, like to affectionately refer to them as my smile lines and/or laugh lines.

When I am serious, the lines are slightly visible. When I smile, the lines are a lot more obvious. But when I laugh, look out, you could fall into the deep creases!

I’m guilty of buying anti-aging, skin repairing, wrinkle filling cream. That’s the big push from the beauty industry these days. But who am I trying to fool? There is NO cream on the market that can even come close to erasing my laugh lines. I’m okay with that though, I wear them as a “badge of honor,” a constant reminder to whomever I may be conversing with, that I AM a smiler, I AM a laugher, and I AM a happy person!

Personally, I would rather have wrinkles that say, “I love to laugh,” than to have perfect porcelain skin that screams, “I never smile.”

Have you smiled today? (It’s worth the wrinkles!)