Have you ever been jealous of pretty people? I’ll admit I used to be. When I was growing up, I wanted to be pretty. I had no dreams of riches or stardom, just beauty. I remember watching Grease and wanting to look as good as Olivia Newton-John. And after I was very grown it was emotionally crippling to know that people of beauty could take what was mine, including opportunities, simply because they were of the beautiful people.
But now I look at people like Jennifer Aniston who can’t seem to be lucky in love, and a great gorgeous friend of mine (you know who you are) who hasn’t always been lucky in love either.
Beauty doesn’t guarantee happiness or joy or even love of a special someone. We all have things to offer and few of us will ever be models, so look at what you do have and appreciate it. Stop worrying about what all you don’t have and instead make the most of the assets you’ve been given.
I have the love of the Lord who finds me beautiful and I also have the love of a fantastic man who thinks I’m beautiful. Although I don’t see myself that way, I have come to accept my looks and even appreciate them because they are part of what makes me, me. And, in the words of Stuart Smalley, I am good enough. So are you. We are the beautiful people.
I recently posted a similar thought to Facebook and got quite an outpouring of agreement from those who have had enough of our beauty-centered culture.
One truly gorgeous (inside and out) friend of mind posted that she used to have an extremely unhealthy “ugly complex” because of comparing herself to those around her. She shared that one day she just decided to believe she was beautiful, and the results were life-changing. She wrote: “When you simply decide what you look like, and stop caring if others disagree, you suddenly become beautiful. Now I can walk into a crowded room and inevitably someone will tell me I look great. A far cry from thinking my ugliness was so extreme it would kill people.”
It’s a good place to be.
