a 'challenge of the utmost kind'... part one

on reflection, finding a nose hair long enough to make a grown man of 74 weep several weeks back, was perhaps a good thing.

at the time, after getting over my initial "OMG!!!!!" horror, and staring at the culprit, no longer in the offending place but rather between my thumb and finger...

thoughts of "how long has that been there?" and then worse still, "are there more where it came from?" i confess i did not see it as a positive.

then i began to think, if indeed it would qualify for a world record of some sorts, wondering should i be calling the Guinness Book of Records to record my discovery. it seemed quite possible they may be interested but then it dawned on me,

a) to count as a record the extraordinarily long nasal hair probably needed to still be attached in some way to have proof of original ownership and

b) did i really wish to go down in history, however briefly as the woman with the longest nostril hair.

quite honestly, no i did not.

and so having spent rather too long on the 'hideousness' of my discovery, i did what i usually do in these circumstances...

i went into denial, i did not glance at a mirror for the rest of the day.

allowing myself to go with smudgy eyeliner, oily forehead and perhaps another hair protruding, and be none the wiser.

this little 'moment' added to the other 'moments' i've had along the way in the past few years.

the graying hairs,

the sagging bottom,

the wrinkles that can no longer be passed off as laughter lines,

the moustache (oh yes i know it's there, mocking me)

the rounded shoulders,

and now the nostril hairs...

this time last year i was on the verge of turning the big 4-0, in the blink of an eye i am now standing on the doorstep of 41, with a nostril hair in hand.

but do i care dearest readers, does my little heart beat a little quicker and my throat constrict a little bit when i think of the number 41?

no it does not (gasp!), how strange is that coming from the woman who took several months or more to get over being 40.

well the thing is, i have a secret to my 'not caring ways' and that secret has been in the way of a 'challenge'....

i'm not saying i've completely come to terms with the 'older' person that stares back at me every morning but i have come to accept who i am and with this i have set myself a 'challenge' for the coming year,

a challenge to distract me from turning 41 in less than a week,

a challenge to make different choices for myself and best of all,

a challenge that excites me and helps me ignore things like 'a nasal hair of the worst kind'...

she will be back tomorrow with part two... the reveal ~ Tif