Our lives are filled with exhortations to seek beauty and youth. Age is presented in commercials almost as if it were a preventable disease. Commercials tell us that having no fat, no gray hair, no wrinkles, no pimples, no balding, and wearing designer clothes are the things that make us beautiful. The same media commercials tell us we will be sexy if we drink the right drinks or drive the right cars.
But what is true beauty and how do you recognize it and attain it?
To be honest, I don’t know. I do know that true beauty, in my opinion, is internal—–it is built on the spiritual foundation of one’s soul. All of the things I have been taught mean beauty are not really connected with true beauty; in fact, trying to attain the things dictated by our society as indicating beauty may, in fact, hinder our acquisition of true beauty.
Yes, I’ll admit I like looking in the mirror and seeing I’ve lost weight and that, although I am 64, I still do not have an visible gray hairs on my head. But if I really look in that mirror, I can see wrinkles, bulges, blemishes, and, yes, a stray albino white hair or two. So, how do people feel beautiful when society tells them they aren’t?
Well, I’ve thought about this, briefly, and here is the list of ten “true beauty indicators” I have come up with:
- Realizing life is not “all about me”
- Being focused on the needs of others rather than my own
- Trying to treat others as I would like them to treat me
- Being aware of and responding to the “God” that is in each of us
- Not trying to control or fix others
- Not doing things to seek attention or praise (or, dare I say, money?)
- Not being afraid to do something because I can’t do it perfectly
- Nurturing the habit of praying often
- Listening without thinking about what I am going to say when the other person stops talking
- Not angrily demanding that all those drivers in front of me use turn signals before they turn rather than not at all or at the very second they start to turn
As you can see, items on this list can be serious or humorous….and almost endless. Therefore, I invite you to add your indicators to the list. Enjoy. I look forward to reading them.
Note: I will be out of touch with all things Internet for several days, so there will be a delay in my responding to your comments. Thank you for your patience.
Living One Day at a Time 
Thanks Kathy for sharing your thoughts. You said a lot of neat things that have provoked some constructive thinking for me. I agree that beauty doesn’t necessarily correspond to what the marketers want us to buy up. I believe beauty is beauty when is is totally unaware that it’s beautiful. I see it in actions of people as well as physically.
Rob, thank you so much for your comments. I totally agree that true beauty is unaware of being beautiful….at least in people. But, then, I doubt a beautiful view, cloud, tree, sunset, etc. has a sense of its own beauty either. 🙂