Many of us do not take the time to notice and acknowledge how beautiful we are as humans. We may be great lovers of beauty, seeing it in the people, places, and things around us, while completely missing it in ourselves. Some of us feel that it is vain to consider our appearance too much, or we may find that when we look at ourselves, all we see are imperfections. Often we come to the mirror with expectations and preconceived notions about beauty that blind us from seeing ourselves clearly. As a result, we miss the beauty that is closest to us, the beauty we are. Sometimes we see our beauty in a shallow way, noticing how well we are conforming to social norms, but failing to see the deeper beauty that shines out from within and that will continue to shine regardless of how we measure up to society's ideal. ~Madisyn Taylor
What if, instead of considering it vanity, we view our beauty as part of nature, as we might a sunrise over a beach or a lush, green valley?
What if we release the shackle that is cultural norms, and appreciate instead the uniqueness of our nose or our chin?
What if we appreciate all that our bodies can do instead of focusing on the dimples along our thighs or roundness of our bellies?
What if we forget the burdens that we pick up as we age, and instead focus on the knowledge we have gained and the laugh lines beside our eyes?
What if we think instead of how many laughs we have enjoyed today instead of the worries that might come tomorrow?
What if we focus on the beauty we see within — in us, in those around us — and ignore the veneer that may or may not be synthetic?