"Am I Beautiful?"
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| "Am I only as beautiful as my outward appearance, or is there more?" |
Inner Beauty.
"Am I only as beautiful
as my outward appearance,
or is there more?"
"Am I
Beautiful?"
Are you one of the 98% of women worldwide who
ask themselves this question and answer, “No.”?
Have you ever looked longingly at those
fashion magazines and thought, “If only I looked like that, I’d be beautiful?”
It may surprise you to know that you are not
alone. Only
2% of women consider themselves beautiful. (1)
But
what is beauty?
The
Dictionary says beauty is a quality present in a thing or person that gives
intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.
The Dove Campaign
asked women and found, two-thirds strongly agree that physical attractiveness is
about how one looks, but, beauty includes much more of who a person is.
So
why is it that we all define beauty based on the outward appearance and ignore
the inner, overall picture? What about inner beauty… personality, integrity, intelligence,
grace, elegance, politeness, laughter, a sense of humor, and charisma? Real
beauty is the result of who we are. The kind of person you are, choices you
make, how you treat others.
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| What would redefined beauty look like? |
of redefining beauty.
Do
you have a crooked smile or a too big nose? Unusual features can in fact add to
our individuality making us unique and interesting. Consider wearing your
uniqueness well and with joy. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder and beauty
means different things to different people. So why can’t we be who we are?
We
all see the super model images and judge ourselves by that standard. In fact,
those images are not real…they are airbrushed, photoshopped and not achievable
for real women. What is real and what isn’t? Are we trying to be thin and
perfect, aspiring to have a stick thin figure, shiny hair, flawless skin,
perfect makeup, expensive designer clothing and making ourselves crazy trying
to be that image of perfect beauty?
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| From a very young age, we are influenced by what society says is beautiful. |
The
young struggle with peer pressure and acceptance, not wanting to be different
or to stand out. While age brings wisdom, maturity, and perspective. But, with
age, beauty fades. If you don’t develop other character qualities, what happens
when you get old? Will you become richer in character, charisma and charm or
will you just be old and ugly?
Put your best face forward.
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| Work With What You Have. |
Put your best face forward. Work with what you have. Remember the story of the Ugly
Duckling. Poor little ugly duckling found himself in a pond filled with other
beautiful ducklings. He was so sad because he was not beautiful like the other
ducklings. Until one day he discovered that he was not a duckling at all… he
was a swan. He was a beautiful swan. By duck standards, he was ugly, but by
swan standards, he was beautiful. So, the question is, whose standards are you
being judged by? Whose standards are you living by?
The
grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or so they say. While
you are admiring your girlfriend’s beautiful shiny hair and wishing yours was
like that, she is likely thinking how clear your skin is and that if only she
had skin like that, she would be beautiful.
Yes, it is fun to get dressed up, do our hair
and put on makeup, But, it is OK to be ourselves. Beauty… any shape, any size. Who
is to say what beauty looks like? Even beautiful people often feel insecure.Beautiful on the outside yet unhappy,
stressed, trying to be perfect.
If
asked would you say you hate False Advertising? I would imagine, but,
who
among us wears lipstick, mascara, eyeshadow, colors our hair, wears a girdle
and push up bra. The woman who walks out the door every day is much different
from the woman who crawled out of the shower. Is that False Advertising? Maybe,
maybe not. The point is that we try to present to the world something much
different than we actually are.
God created each and every one of us
beautiful in his eyes. We are his great masterpiece uniquely and wonderfully
made. Can we appreciate what God has given us? Focus on the positive and “ROCK
what you’ve got!
In the
words of my dear friend @gracefulodyssey . “ Fall in love with yourself. Take
better care of yourself, be kinder to yourself. Love yourself. Honor and
appreciate yourself. Be honest, authentic.
Can Lipstick and Mascara change the world? No! But the woman who wears them can.
Be real and let your beauty shine from within.
(1) "Only Two Percent of Women Describe
Themselves as Beautiful; New Global Study Uncervs Desire for Broader Definition of Beauty,"
September 29, 2004,
(2) The Dove Campaign
(3) Per Vicki Courtney of Focus on the Family, we are left with the task of redefining
beauty.
Beautiful, uplifting and encouraging words, Rhonda. It's so scary to get older as the days go by and to watch a transformation that we feel we have no control over and in effect, we judge ourselves so harshly because we compare ourselves to those who appear perfect.
ReplyDeleteI love your insights and if all us women asked ourselves who we really love to be around, it will be the friend who reminds us that there's utter perfection in being imperfect and they give us permission to be our imperfect selves. ♥
Thank you Noel. You always have a unique way of looking at the world and making our deepest thoughts and fears... OK. I think you hit the proverbial Nail on the head when you refer to those who appear perfect. It is an illusion. If we look deeply, we will find they have many of the same insecurities that we have. They simply cover it well. From one perfectly imperfect friend to another. I appreciate your support.
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