Five Different
Ways to Look at Beauty
By Sue Miller
Some people think
that beauty belongs to the twenty-five-year-old
socialite who stars in her own reality television
show or the 15-year-old country singer who has a
number one hit song. But what happens when young
people age, or rich people run out of money, or
successful people face professional setbacks, or
healthy people become sick? People can’t control
everything, but they can learn to be beautiful all
the time. Here are five ways to find true beauty
and share it with others:
1.Redefine Beauty. Some of us have classically beautiful
features. Some of us do not. Millions of dollars
a year are being spent on plastic surgery. We fix
our noses, take out the wrinkles, or take the circles
out from under the eyes. But what happens when puffy
lips go out of style after we’ve spent millions
of dollars emulating puffy-lipped actresses?
And what happens to those who have starved themselves
to be thin when curvaceous models take over the
covers of the fashion magazines?
The key to feeling beautiful is to define beauty
for yourself, rather than letting others do it for
you. Your looks belong to you, not to the cosmetics
industry or to plastic surgeons. Empower yourself
to look the way you want to look rather than the
way others tell you that you should look.
2. Find inward beauty. If you are not gifted with
the type of facial features or body that can turn
heads, carry yourself as though you were. When you
walk into a room, project self-confidence, whether
or not you are feeling it. When you act as though
your self-esteem is high, then you feel good about
yourself, and it shows. Others will notice your
inner glow, and you will become the most beautiful
person in the room.
3. Use words to create beauty: So what if you are
not a supermodel or if your body is imperfect? You
can control what you say and how you say it. If
your words convey empathy, wisdom, concern, and
compassion, you will be sharing beauty in a lasting
way. Superficial beauty can never compete with that.
4. Be centered and silent: You don’t have
to say anything to share beauty. Sometimes, sitting
in silence and reaching out to someone in need with
a hug or gesture is the best kind of beauty there
can be. When your quiet presence soothes other people
and brings comfort to them, that is more beautiful
than all of the mass market beauty that money can
buy.
5. Make others feel beautiful. Help other people
find the beauty inside of themselves. They may have
put on weight over the holiday season, or they may
have broken a limb, or they may have lost their
hair. But you can show them that their worth has
not diminished in your eyes, and you can bring more
beauty into the world by helping others believe
in it, too.
While some people are lucky enough to be born with
superficial beauty, that is not the type of beauty
that will last forever. Beauty that you can find
in yourself, and that you can generate in others,
is lasting, and that is something you can control.
Sue Miller is the author of "I'm Tougher Than
I Look" (Williams Cohen Press 2006). You can
visit her website at: www.imtougherthanilook.com.
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