We older ladies spend a lot of our lives in self-conscious misery, worrying about what others think. Change out of that skirt with the stain, put on your eye liner, wear your decent shoes instead of those ratty old sneakers, comb your hair. As I get older, I realize how foolish that is. Nobody cares. To them, we are not even a blip on their radar. We are the person standing in front of the freezer at the supermarket when they want ice cream, the person in front of or behind them in line, the car in the next lane going exactly the speed limit when they want to pull into our lane before the light. We have no status or recognition in their lives. We might happen to have a brief encounter, “Oh, I’m sorry; was I in your way?” “No, no, it’s fine.” If asked that evening to describe us: “Um, well, I think she had on flowered pants,” or, “She had white hair.” (That might not even be true any longer because virtually everyone has white hair it seems. At least in Florida.)
Anyway, anyway, stop worrying about what people think of you. They don’t. Anymore than you think of them. We are insignificant in their lives. That’s not a good thing. Nor is it a bad one. It just is.
If you want to wear your good shoes and draw black lines around your eyes, go ahead. But do it for yourself. Because no one else will notice.
Pat Ponders Life 
After reading your first sentence, I thought I was going to disagree with you because the older I get the less I care what others think of me. But then you developed the thought so that you were in sync with my thoughts.I never thought, though, that I didn’t care because no one else cared. Good point. I remember seeing an “old person” (probably younger than I am now) and thinking, “She was someone’s mother once and made school lunches and swept floors. But now she’s has no purpose.” I love the prayer I heard someplace, “Lord, let me never live to be useless.” I enjoy having a purpose at this age (tutoring and writing) and not caring what people think of me. That said, however, I still enjoy getting “dolled up,” but now it’s for my own enjoyment, not to impress others.
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I can’ even figure out how you commented, but THANK YOU! When I pull it up, I can’t see a place for comments.
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There was a place that said comments so I filled that out. It works!
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Really like your blog – even though I’m very cautious of any of this on-line commenting, etc. Your logo (I assume that’s what the top of the page is) is terrific & I love your picture! Enjoyed your “thought” too. Guess I’m still feeling like I want to spruce up a little when I leave the house – but I certainly do it for myself. If I’m comfortable in my own skin (and clothes, etc.) then I’m not really concerned about what others might think. That’s one of the perks of getting older…it’s quite freeing. The goal now is to stay as healthy, grateful and involved as possible to really enjoy this time of life! Kudos to you on expanding and sharing your love of writing!
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You’re not really commenting “on line,” when you leave a comment on a blog. At least I don’t think you are. I don’t suppose I’ll ever let go of cleaning up a tad to go out in public, more so to have lunch with a friend than to dash to the grocery store. If nothing else, I’ll probably never go without my eyebrows! 😉
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As I read this, I was reminded of my grandmother having told me, decades ago, that she had finally, in her sixties, realized that she didn’t have to care what others thought of her. I also remember my mother telling me, when I was an angst-filled teenager, “Don’t let other people decide your life for you. Make up your own mind.” Years later, when I started wearing a beard and letting my hair grow long, she often said, “You’d look so much nicer if you’d cut your hair/trim your beard/shave.” Even then, I thought to myself, “Too late, Ma. I heard you too strongly the first time.”
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When she said “other people” she didn’t mean her. You know that don’t you? 😉
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Putting on that eyeliner, trying to look my best…all makes me feel better about myself.
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