Mini-Makeover

I had a surprising beauty treatment this morning. I was out running a few errands, including picking up a bum-load of 3" binders to hold all the family history stuff (the 8 volumes are occupying the whole bottom shelf of one my bookcases at the moment) and I ran into this woman I used to despise. Seriously. I can count the people who have inspired this kind of ill will from me on less than one hand. Back in the day, when people would talk about their wedding receptions, I always said I'd like my brother and big, burly cousins to act as bouncers to keep this woman out. She was so mean to me in younger years, and she was mean to my mom, which is simply unacceptable.
Well, as time has marched on, I heard through the grapevine that this gal's life wasn't going so well, and it really made me feel bad. After all of her meanness, I'd never wish any person would have to go through some of her trials. I know that she isn't perfect (hahaha) but I also knew that she was really more of a victim than the perpetrator of her circumstances, and I felt awful for her.
So this morning, I happened to run into her at the store. Formerly, I would have pretended not to see her and just crept away from our mutual aisle, but before thinking, I enthusiastically shouted hello. And you know what? I'm so glad I did.
This was the best thing-- this gal is HAPPY now. I mean, seriously, completely happy. And she's a different person. And you know what else? Seeing her so happy made me truly happy too. It really warmed my heart and gave me goosebumps and warm fuzzies and all. I know it sounds really dumb, but I realized at that moment in all of my earlier interactions with her, she'd always seemed so sour. Now I understand she was probably shouldering a huge burden, and even though it wasn't nice of her to act out (again, who could ever be mean to my MOM?), I think that this was the first time I'd stopped to think about what a difference love and peace in her life could make. And then I thought about how I'd better start giving more people the benefit of the doubt. And then I felt all those years of fear and resentment melting away, and she and I were just two women in the store, and I was able to share in her joy.
On my way back to the office, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror, and I looked better than I had in ages, even though I'd not even bothered to fix my hair this morning (though, I'm happy to say it dries attractively, all things considered). My smile was wider, my jaw wasn't clenched in stress or frustration. I could see my eyes sparkle more when I took a brief break from my mental checklists and just relished the moment of being happy for someone else-- and not just anyone-- someone I really used to loathe. Giving up the long-harbored bad feelings was an instant beauty treatment.
And I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed, because there was a man on a bike who kept checking me out. Or maybe he just thought I was crazy, smiling so widely at anyone who managed to meet my gaze. But he was cute, and environmentally friendly (or poor, which is also charming), and I liked having him look at me, and feeling good enough to look right back.