True Beauty!

Through the years, women have constantly been told how beautiful they are. Most of us were raised to look at beauty as only skin deep. Even though we are attracted to beautiful people by nature, thankfully, we know that it’s not just skin deep, it’s the inner beauty that counts the most. The outside has nothing to do with the true inside of who you are and when you’re young, you don’t always grasp that concept right away. There are some who are lucky enough to get it right out of the gate, and the rest waddle through life until the truth hits them in the face. If some of us were blatantly honest, we’d confess that we wanted a gorgeous face, a great body, fabulous hair with healthy white teeth and sexy eyes. Toss in wealth, a zest for life, a love for humanity and the planet and people would be drawn to you like a moth to a flame. Just imagine looking the way you want to look and being one of the nicest and most loving people around, that's the best of both worlds. But then again, that's not a realistic point of view. Even though having physical beauty is nice, I learned some time ago that what you feel, and who you are on the inside counts so much more and it goes so much further. People are genuinely drawn to people because of how they consistently make them feel.

As we age, just like most things, physical beauty fades over time. I've been thinking about this and I've asked myself if I would start Botox treatments or get a facelift when my skin loses its elasticity. There are so many products and procedures being advertised on the market that most women don’t know what to buy. They find themselves approaching middle age and trying to keep their skin firm, toned and younger looking. I think if you want to enhance your looks by having plastic surgery, then go for it. Here's a little disclosure. A little over fifteen years ago, I decided to have a nose job and I don't regret it. Thankfully, it looks quite natural, so no one ever asks me about it, but I don’t want to resort to any more plastic surgery. I want to continue to look as natural as possible and to age gracefully. If surgery is the option you choose to enhance your looks or correct something that you're unhappy with, then it’s your choice to do so. There are some people who seemingly have plastic surgery as a career. Every time you look around they're having some other procedure done. But just remember, if there are emotional problems on the inside, you have to go much deeper to fix those problems. They can't be fixed by a plastic surgeon.

I can't talk about true beauty and not mention models and actors. There have been a myriad of articles and conversations about what you see on television or in publications and how it affects women, particularly young girls. Self esteem and confidence don't come easy for young women especially when they're overweight, have bad skin or some other physical or emotional handicap. But with growth and maturity, over time, hopefully you learn to accept who you are and you learn to love you. Some people look at movies and see actors on the screen with nearly perfect faces and bodies and they imagine they can look exactly the same way. Magazine ads reflect young women that are a size zero or a size two. We forget that those women are not the average size woman. The size of the average woman is usually an eight, ten or twelve. But impressionable young women don't think about those things when they're looking through a magazine. They forget that most of those images have been airbrushed to sell ads. People are naturally drawn to beautiful things and beautful people, so we have to remind ourselves what's more important because it's easy to get caught up with the physicalities. We all grew up watching the Miss Universe and Miss America pageants and they seemed so superficial because the judging was primarily based on what they looked like in a swimsuit and an evening dress. They're asked one key question at the end of the pageant, which a fifth grader can basically answer.

At the end of the day, you should never be defined or judged by how you look, as long as you have good hygiene. You should be perceived by your character, your integrity and your heart. We're all special and unique individuals. We all have something that sets us apart from one another and we're all here on this Earth for a purpose. If you haven't figured out what your purpose is, then focus on that and the reason you're here. Keep your inner spirit replenished, focus on your natural rhythms and learn to connect with your inner self. We all like looking good, but again, don't let that define who you are. I know that for some people that's easier said than done, but you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't turn that around and focus on your true inner beauty.

Love 'N Joy!