Vanity – Good, Bad and Ugly
Vanity isn’t easy
Being a father isn’t easy. I have good days and bad days and every day in between. I have days where I don’t feel good (now) and days where I feel like I could take on the world (sometime in the last week I am sure.) No matter how I feel though I can always count on one thing, my vanity.
Vanity – The Good
Some people would say it’s not good for a person to have vanity but I tend to disagree. I believe vanity can become a good thing when used in moderation. People that have a healthy outlook on life and on themselves tend to have a better chance for success in things they do. I know for myself, if I discover I have done something wrong it makes me want to try harder. It makes me want to show others that I can do and become a better person. It is only through my vanity and self-pride that I want to work harder to succeed.
Vanity – The Bad
Vanity does it have its drawbacks. Recently, I have thought a lot about getting older and I am not always to fond of what I see. Being a man, I know that as we get older we tend to grow more hairs in places we would rather not have them; e.g. ears, nose and back. I might live with being a little hairier. My problem is when the extra hairs start becoming a little grayer because then it starts making me have a bad day. Just this week, I found a gray hair in my eyebrow. Since I have vanity on my side I looked at it with awe and disbelief. I then did what my vanity told me to do. I took out a pair of tweezers and quickly disposed of the evidence (I also did the stupid thing and told my wife and she laughed continually for over an hour.)
Vanity – The Ugly
Society tells men their whole lives that gray hair makes a man distinguished. My personal belief is that people tell men this so we don’t think about how are children are working towards making us completely gray. Let’s be honest for one second…society emphasizes youth.
We may see a movie with an older man getting the younger girl but in reality do they stay together? The answer is no. They do not. She wants the younger man. She knows the ugly truth, no matter how much money he has he will never be able to keep up with her. She might stay with him. She might say she loves him (all for the money) but she will probably have a younger man on the side (who can keep up with her.)
5 Ways to know you are truly vain
1. Getting older doesn’t concern you. What does concern you is the skyrocketing cost of plastic surgery in your area. You have discovered it much more affordable in other countries.
2. You have all your clothes categorized by seasons, colors and style and it still takes you 30 minutes to pick something out to wear for the day.
3. You get excited by looking for styling product coupons in the Sunday newspaper. When you do find one you immediately do a little dance and yell, “yes!”
4. You automatically turn your head and smile when you hear someone say cheese.
5. You find yourself looking for mirrors where ever you go. You want to make sure you hair, teeth and clothes are at their best.
Hot guy or parent???
I am not saying that I am overly vain but it sure didn’t hurt my reputation when I was able to write Hot Guy or Parent. In fact it might have confirmed what I already knew. I might have a little vanity in me!
Everyone has a bit of vanity in them. What are you vain about? Tell me in the comments.
Be sure to check out Andi-Roo at TheWorld4Realz who is writing about a month of controversy in the A to Z +1 August blogging challenge with me! Today is the letter “V” for Vanity – Good, Bad and Ugly!
Tags: being a man, better chance, disbelief, self pride, stupid thing
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Good question. Frankly not sure of the answer.
LOL….I am sure you must have some vanity about something. I could say mine would be cowboy boots! I love to wear cowboy boots and nothing fits quite like them….
Aaron
I’m sure I have many areas of vanity, just having trouble picking one
If shoes count I’m sure my collection of heels qualifies. I LOVE them!
LOL…If you asked my wife shoes would count without a doubt!
Aaron
V for Vanity, hey! I know the problem. I have also been thinking about getting older this year, as I have a milestone birthday coming up in a few weeks!
I think I would prefer to think about V for Victory. Victory in surviving and suceeding as a stay at home dad/mum, V for a Valiant effort in getting the job done reasonably well… Which can be tough on days when there is lots of spew and poo to deal with!! V for Valued.. Valued children, with parents that teach values such as Respect, Compassion, Integrity and so on.
V for a much needed Vacation…. No, it’s not true… Really it’s not… I love my job!
LOL….I actually started to write about valuing parenthood but since I wrote about perfecting parenthood on the letter P I decided against it….I also have been trying to alternate between a funny post and a serious post as much as possible and this was the funny one. I figured not much is funnier than my vanity! lol
Aaron
As I’m probably a decade ahead of you, I’ll tell you there’s eras in views of aging, particularly for men. Right now, you are in the era of noticing first signs and battling it. That goes on for about 10 yrs. Then the next era brings you to the realization that it’s gonna happen no matter how much you deny it. So the question becomes whether you will let it all to to hell or do the best you can. I’ve decided to do the best I can with hair color, lots of vitamins, and many healthy lifestyle adjustments. I hit moments when the mirror seems to take a harsher presentation of my face & wrinkles. But I’ve begun to accept that today is the best I will will from now on. In a year, I’ll think I looked pretty good TODAY.
Pam,
Heck…I have noticed aging since I was 18 with gray hair! lol ….I wish I could say different on that but I have had a head full for a long time just never in my eyebrows until now…..sigh….my granny used to tell me to fight aging anyway you could…I have no problem with taking her advice…lol
Aaron
I’m all about the hair. If my hair isn’t done, I won’t leave the house. I can’t stand for my hair to be touched. That may be more of a reaction to childhood bullying, but it can easily come across as vanity.
LOL…There is nothing wrong with always wanting to look your best. As a man if you saw how many styling products I owned you would be amazed….since I wear a cowboy hat sometimes I like to have lots of styling gel and product so my hair won’t move when I am wearing it….yikes
Aaron
Hmm, not certain about outright vanity…but I always wanted to be the most in-shape dad, or have the teens want to hang out at the Vickery house. Gray hair never bothered me, but I did tell my wife that I was shaving it off before I would do the horseshoe thing…actually, some folks pull off the horseshoe pretty well by cutting it close.
I am the one in the house that pays the most attention to exercise, fitting in the same clothes, watching the ratio of carbs/fat/protein, my love handles, etc. If I splurge on rich food, I’ll go on an oatmeal/nuts/protein shake kick until I feel better.
Hmm, is that vain? My end game is to stick around for several more decades with the woman I love while we share in all of the milestones and extended family that our daughters will have.
Brian,
I think even with being in shape their is a little vanity involved but of course that’s my opinion. I think we are all vain in a few things we do and don’t consider it a bad thing as long we never obsess over it.
For myself as far the gray hair…i can tell you it bothers me. I think it has more to do with the fact that I had more gray hair at age 17 then most 45 year old men. I can tell you it’s not a great feeling to have a baby face and gray hair…lol…I can’t complain to much about it though I have a very full head of hair and it definitely is not “letting loose” at all.
Aaron