by Alexis Tembra Neal

Created on: January 06, 2009

This topic truly saddens me. Our society full of face lifts, bot-ox, liposuction, hair plugs, and the "ideal" human plastered on the front of every magazine cover at the check out lines has made us believe that to be beautiful we must look young and be young. We must all look like supermodels or Calvin Klein underwear models and nothing less will do. If you didn't look like that at 19 what makes you think you should at 50? When I see a person who has had plastic surgury in all honesty "grosses me out". It is extremely noticeable and every time I wonder what the person looked like before and why are they so ashamed of themselves and so scared to grow older?

Everyone is beautiful in this world and deserves to feel that way as well. Comedy is something that makes this world "go 'round" and if that is taken away, what would we have left? If you have someone in your life that has such extreme low self-esteem that something as simple as a birthday dissolves their sense of humor then you need to give them something more than a funny "over the hill" balloon. Do something really special if this person means something to you or if it is as simple as a co-worker then spend two breaths today and whisper "you look amazing today" or "you are glowing today, is there something you're not telling me?" Then give them your comedic gift. Is compassion really that inconvenient in our world today that we are too lazy to pay someone a compliment that could quite possibly make their day, week, month or even year? If this person is your spouse then you have failed to make them feel loved unconditionally. If this person is a close friend then you have failed to uplift them where others in their life have not. If you are concerned enough that you will offend or insult this person then I think that you care enough to try to uplift them at the same time.

Though I am not "over the hill" myself yet, I am racing there at mighty speeds, and if one of the "big" birthdays seems to get me down then a humorous gift or card to slap the priorities back into my head is just what I need.I do not think that it is insulting to give birthday gifts that make fun of a person's age. I personally would not take it as an insult, and if you are a person that would be insulted or offended by an "age" gift then maybe you should just be grateful that someone has even remembered your birthday, especially considering that they are probably just as senile as you are at this age.

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