What is beautiful? Is it being the perfect height and weight? Having perfect teeth and hair? Having tan skin and long legs? There is such a blurred vision of what beauty actually is and if you're anything like me you struggle with seeing yourself as beautiful.
We long to be skinny, not too tall, not too short, have the whitest teeth, the prettiest clothes, and have the most luscious hair. The reality is that none of this matters. Sure it's nice to be confident and feel beautiful, but once you accept that beauty comes from within, you will start to see your beauty from the outside radiate.
It's hard to look into the mirror and see nothing but ugly. I've been in your shoes. You hear all the time that beauty comes from within, but how many of us actually believe it? Even though this is supposed to be what real beauty is, it's hard to believe it because the media is force feeding us what they believe “real beauty” truly is.
Consistently feeling like you are not good enough, which leads to a multitude of issues including eating disorders, depression, and the need to spend hundreds of dollars on items just to make you feel more beautiful. True beauty doesn't come from the materialistic items that we are constantly told to purchase to help our physical appearance.
So here's a question for you, if beauty doesn't come from physical characteristics then what makes someone beautiful? Maybe it's the person's outgoing, bubbly personality. Or maybe it's their passion and drive to live a fulfilling life. Maybe it's the way they walk confidently in their own direction and hold so much kindness and love for other humans. Does this sound beautiful to you? So why when trying to beautify ourselves do we spend hours in front of the mirror or in stores focusing on our external appearance. If beauty truly comes from within, wouldn't we rather spend these hours focusing on beautifying our inner selves? If beauty is really made up of confidence, kindness, and passion we should spend our time focusing on the things that make us happy and make us love ourselves more.
Now this being said, it doesn't mean we have to change our beauty routines to let our inner real beauty shine. Rather just understand that outer beauty isn't what truly and ultimately matters in this life. Makeup, skin products, haircuts and colors, new clothes and shoes are all amazing things but they don't define us and only give us temporary happiness. These products and items don't define you or your beauty. Your beauty truly does come from within. So on those days that you struggle to see your beauty, whether it be a bad hair day, your outfit is not on point, or a no makeup day, understand that those things are not making you beautiful. Sure they enhance your outer beauty, but instead of focusing on that, step away from the mirror and focus on your inner beauty. Do something that makes you happy, boosts your self confidence, or spreads love to yourself and others. This kind of inner beauty goes a lot further than external beauty ever will.
