Forever young … If there were a real Fountain of Youth, would you drink the water?

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Forever Young.”

When I was much younger I would probably have said …yes of course…lead me to the well and I have a huge glass with me ….

As I look back on my youthful photos I see a lovely young woman who was blessed with nice eyes, and a fairly attractive face along with a tall build and a brain that I would like to access now and then . Had I been asked this question then, when I was full of the naivete of  life and always hungry for something in the greener paddock next door ,  I would have been the first to say  “fill my cup let’s drink and be merry” !!

… but then came the years, and the challenges and along the way … the wisdom . ( at least I hope that at my age of late 50s I have had the good sense to acquire some!)

When I was thirty, after a brush with breast cancer … well maybe I would have been knocking everyone else out of the way to achieve this miracle longevity!

Or would I?  After all, drinking from the fountain of youth means you can look young forever …. doesn’t it? Nobody said I would be healthy… just that I would stay looking young and being the silly naive 30 year old that I was???  Perish the thought !!!

Along with my dry skin wrinkles and grey hairs has come a wealth of wisdom that tells me that beauty is indeed skin deep

and if not accompanied by a beautiful heart then it is nothing.  Add to that …. would staying young mean that I would forever be young but worried about my breast cancer?

Would I be forever young and go on to have a child that would grow older than her mother???

  Would I have to like the next generation’s music because eventually I would be their age?

I could even be stuck on the treadmill of rushing from one destination to another, thinking it is all so important that I miss seeing the flowers bloom .

Maybe I would grow tired of seeing the days come and go and the sun and moon rise … since what makes experiencing these things so special is the changing perspectives from which we view them as we age.

Surely too, this would mean that I have not accepted the human condition and journey on this earth … that I see no value in our beloved elderly , with their wizened faces that have a wisdom in every fold?

But seriously, looking at my concerns in life now when I observe the world around me,  meaning the planet and not just my tiny corner of the world,  is would this water from the fountain be potable even?  And for how many years would it remain so? Surely if it was in the US or Australia….. it would not be trustworthy as the water tables are in danger of being so polluted by giant mining interests and Coal Seam Gas Fracking  that my most serious concern would be …… has that well feeding the fountain of Youth …. been poisoned ?

Under the Fountain of Youth ???

I urge you to consider the benefits of ageing gracefully, of letting your accumulated wisdom from those years shine out, showing the inner beauty that can only come from living life and learning all of its valuable lessons. AS the old saying goes….. life is not a dress rehearsal … and the fountain of youth is almost certainly fraught with hidden dangers