One hundred nineteen days to go…  What in the world is happening that I’m now experiencing what are commonly known as sleep wrinkles?  This isn’t good, people.  You are probably thinking critical thoughts related to my obsession with vanity.  You are probably well within your right to do so.  This whole turning 40 thing is causing me to act slightly bizarre and completely out of character.  If you have some time until you turn the big 4-0, please don’t be a hater until you know how you will deal with it.  If you already experienced the big 4-0 and you dealt with it better…  good for you…  I ’m very happy for you.  By the way, that was sarcasm.

I need my sleep.  I have always needed sleep.  Even when I was half the age I am now, I needed sleep.  A good night’s sleep will determine my whole mood for the day.  There is no circumventing it.  I have to sleep.  I feel the need to share this, because my “sleep wrinkles” will no longer allow me to hide it.  When you’re young, you might wake up in the morning with a few “sheet lines” on your face that will quickly disappear before you even reach for the coffee pot.  When you get older, those hateful little lines won’t even think of lightening up until at least noon.  And that’s if you’re lucky!  Since I don’t see myself as a Botox person (at least not yet) I need to find a way to befriend, if you will, these pesky little lines.  What can I do about them and, moreover, what do they say about me?

Hear ye, hear ye, I’ve decided to embrace them!  (As if I have a choice…)  The more I think about it, the more I understand that every fine line beginning on my face is unique to me:  unique to my story and my life.  I want to think of them as God’s gentle fingerprints near every smile I’ve ever smiled, near every tear I’ve ever shed.  I’ve cried a lot of tears and spent a lot of not so joyful, restless nights that helped to create these lines.  And, guess what?  I’m who I am today because of every single situation I have endured.

I know discussing sleep wrinkles on my face might seem a bit shallow, but sleep wrinkles really are not the point of this post.  If you invest enough time to assess a situation, you can actually gain positive perspective that will flow into other areas that are much deeper.  And, since I’m on the narrow road to discovery, I guess what I’m trying to convey is that we are all in some way unique, important, strong individuals with beautiful stories to share.  Each and every one of us has a very specific purpose in life.

What do your lines say?