Forever Etched

There is a certain kind of equanimity that sometimes comes with age. Our lives may become narrower with infirmity but out hearts become wider with acceptance. Most of us are harsher critics of ourselves to a degree we would never go with our friends. Self-compassion is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.

How has aging (or maturity) helped you to accept your own foibles and foolishness?

Only when the years
have whitewashed your hair;
Only when life
has etched itself
upon your face;
Only then
will you come
to yourself
whole.

Only when you
have loved, and lost,
and loved again;
Only when you
have traveled down
dead-end roads
And left
a thousand projects
unfinished;
Only then
will you come
to yourself
whole.

Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Only when you
have embraced
the other face
of your two–faced life;
Only when you
have slept
in the bed
of your own lies;
Only then
will you come
to yourself
whole.

Only when
the wind and water
have weathered
the edges of you;
So much so that you
are a remnant
of what you
once were;
Only then
will you come
to yourself
whole.

Not as arms
and legs.
Not as thoughts
and feelings,
Not as deeds
and accomplishments,
But as something
wholly unknowable.

Only then
will you find
your Self
forever etched
upon the face
of the universe.