it's all in the heart......

i had this theory i came up with years ago -
the older we get the more we show on the outside who
we are on the inside.
we physically become what our heart is full of.

i actually got that idea in a negative way.
i saw someone just get uglier and uglier. her eyes
were just so hard to look at.
and i thought 'wow, it's like what's inside is coming out.'
and that's when the theory was born.

ever since then, i've watched.
i remember being captivated by an old, old woman.
she was radiant.
and i remember wondering how on earth she was so beautiful.
and then i remembered my theory.
her inside beauty was definitely on the outside.
her heart was shining all over her skin and face....or
maybe out of or thru or something....it was shining one way
or another and she was stunning.

i got to thinking of that last nite along with the idea of 'potential.'

i was thinking of a beautiful girl i grew up with
who now is so full of the negative in life. it comes out in her
politics and religion and what she spreads around.

i thought of her and how she 'had everything.'
she had all the potential any young girl could ever want.
she had the looks, the brains, the social skills...
but i guess maybe not so much the heart. i always thought
she was nice. so it wasn't like she had no heart. she was
nice. so she had SOME heart. maybe that got knocked about a bit
tho thru some of her rougher stuff.

and i wondered if the negative stuff was always in there.
or did it come about thru her trials?
i have no idea. i just know it's there now. and it colors
everything.

but it made me think of trials and potential.

potential...we have it all thru life. even when we're fifty.
we've still got potential. what's in our hearts is going to
create what we become. all the way to what we look like.
where we go is led by what's inside us.

everything about us gets touched and molded by our hearts.

and the trials...

the goal can't be just to get thru them.
the goal has to be to get thru them while strengthening the heart.
getting thru them and keeping our potential in mind.
not losing site of who we want to be.
using them as some kinda tools. soul shaping tools.
and if we can't get that far with them, at the very least,
not letting them take the goodness out of our hearts.

the timing of all this is perfect.
i have a challenge right now.
and i'm going to try to keep this in mind......

i was never your knock-out/head-turner young lady...
but i'm still holdin' out for the chance to be that
little wrinkly ol' lady that you do a double take at,
because somehow there's light coming out of her skin!

wouldn't that be so cool?!!

i do believe it's all in the heart......