Beauty from Within

 

By: Misty Murph'Ariens

 

 

 

You know, I must be getting older. I see the young women around me and I hear my mothers voice in my head, “You're a very pretty girl, but you'd be so much prettier if you didn’t wear so much makeup and you smiled once in a while.” It's funny though, in reflecting on that comment that she made to me so often as a teen, I think she was completely right, but still missing part of the point. She thought that I was beautiful just as I was, but at the time I didn't believe her. Why? Because she didn't believe that she was beautiful just as she was. And she was so beautiful. It wasn't because she had a perfect figure or face. Everybody thought she was beautiful because she was tall, confident, and always had a smile on from ear to ear. On my wedding day, all my family didn't say that I looked beautiful. They said with proud smiles, “You look just like your mother.” For years, I questioned my own beauty. Like so many, I made it conditional. I'll be beautiful when...I lose twenty pounds...this pimple goes away...I get the right outfit... When I met Bryce, I started to challenge this thinking. At first, I thought, (as Maybelline commercials had thought me), he thinks I'm beautiful when my makeup is on or when I'm dressed up. But, over time, I noticed that he looked at me the same way when my hair was a mess, when I was wearing sweats, when I was covered in mud after a days work. I decided to try looking at myself that way. I saw the curve of my hips, the flush of my cheek, my long legs. Then, I tried looking at myself the way my mother saw me. I saw the brightness of my eyes, the joy behind a true smile. I started to wonder, what is it that we are looking for with the makeup, the diets and the clothes? The answer was so simple and startling—health, strength, and happiness. The red lips that look as if they have just been kissed, the white flash of healthy teeth, the figure of a lean and supple youth, the glow of sun on your skin. I knew I had to change my behaviour. Makeup would not make me beautiful. Why would it? If it made you feel beautiful all the time, you wouldn't buy it anymore. No, to be beautiful, you must feel beautiful. If you are healthy and happy and fulfilled, you will look that way. So, I gave up wearing makeup and dyeing my hair. (Slowly, of course. It is an addiction...) I started wearing what made me feel comfortable and fit my lifestyle. I stopped eating toxic, processed foods and I started to really jump into life with both feet. Now, if I feel less than lovely, I take it as a sign to eat more greens, get active or get more rest. It is true that I believe that I look more beautiful now that I have lost weight, have clearer skin and smile more often. But, it is not the external that I see anymore. I see the beauty that I feel shining from within. I wish that more women would see themselves through the eyes of their mothers, their daughters or their loving husbands. I wish for more people to break their reliance on toxic chemicals to make themselves feel worthwhile. I wish for more people to forgive themselves for their imperfections, to embrace their uniqueness and to aspire to true beauty—health, happiness and fulfilment.