Why should I be ashamed?

Guys, 2 months from now I'm going to be 27. Holy cow. I feel like that officially puts me in the "late twenties" category. My 10 year high school reunion is next year. 10 years!! While I feel like my late twenties snuck up on me I also don't feel old.

I recently saw a post about an eleven year old girl who was buying wrinkle cream so that she could start preventing wrinkles on her face. Eleven. 

When I was eleven I was just worried about playing outside with my friends, the thought of wrinkles never even crossed my mind.

Do I have wrinkles now? Sure. But why do I have to be ashamed of them or try to get rid of them? I also have plenty of other things "wrong" with my body but I embrace them all.

• I have some crows feet. That just means I've smiled a lot. I've enjoyed my life and laughed. Why am I supposed to hide the fact that I've smiled and laughed a lot?

• I have dark circles and bags under my eyes. That just means I've had friends who've kept me up late having fun, jobs that wake me up early, or right now, a toddler who gets me up :). Why am I supposed to hide the fact that I like spending time with people I love or, the fact that I've been blessed with jobs, or that my baby needed me in the middle of the night for sustenance and comfort?

• Another thing I hear a lot about is gray hair. While I don't experience this yet, I full plan on embracing every single one that shows up. Why am I supposed to cover up that I'm aging and my hair is changing with that?

• I have stretch marks. I was pregnant and got some stretch marks. Guys, I stinking grew a human being inside of me, the most incredible thing I could ever do and I'm supposed to be ashamed of the stretch marks that came with it? I created life and the thing I'm supposed to take from that is he ruined my body with stretch marks. This does not even make sense to me.

I see aging and getting older as a gift. I embrace my birthday and new age every year. God's given me the gift of another year of life, why do I feel like I'm supposed to complain about that? I've survived this life for almost 27 years now. That's a great accomplishment. I'm looking forward the next 27 years and more!