I have said a lot about aging, but very little about beauty. What is beauty? Besides being in the eye of the beholder, beauty itself entails a myriad of meanings. It must be more than a perfect body or a wrinkle-free face. Typing the word “beauty” into a search engine will result in literally millions of sites. I like this definition from WebMD: “It is not about size, shape, colour, sex or age. It’s about being your best from the inside out.”
There are many ways to define true beauty. Think of the smiling face of an infant as he holds his father’s finger in his tiny grip. Picture the sky before an angry thunderstorm erupts. Nature is full of examples of beauty: freshly opened flowers, a gorgeous sunrise, a mountain-fed stream, and dolphins playing in the sea.
Beauty resides in all of us. How we live and care for each other is the way we share our beauty with others. Again, this has nothing to do with looks. Beauty is a feeling we give to others. Volunteering our time and energy to a cause can be one definition of beauty. The way it feels to help a homeless woman and her children is beautiful.
Oprah Winfrey, the American talk show host, has a column in her monthly magazine titled “Live Your Best Life.” It’s about being and doing your best from the inside out and it is also a great definition of beauty. It is a wonderful mantra we can all remember to give our best to ourselves and others.
Think of a friend who you consider beautiful and consider his or her physical appearance. Are they truly beautiful or is it something in their personality that fills them with beauty? I have a friend who some may consider average looking. To me, she is beautiful. I can picture her delightful gap-toothed smile. She has the kind of smile that lights up her whole face, her hazel eyes even reflect warmth. People always want to sit near her, to hear her laughter, and hear her stories. She works with poverty stricken youth and their families. She gives freely to her students, not monetarily, but love and joy. Her warmth is contagious.
When I think of beauty, I will always visualize my friend laughing in my living room while telling tall tales. She may not be a magazine cover model, but she is gorgeous, complete with crow’s feet, laugh lines, and her imperfect smile.
Nobody is perfect. Why waste time striving for the perceived and ever-changing definition of perfection. Coming to terms with one’s self is far more beautiful than having high cheek bones and perfect breasts. Aging with grace is indeed possible.
It all begins, and ends, with gratitude and love or failing that you could always get cosmetic surgery and provided you get a good cosmetic surgeon from a cosmetic surgery clinic such as Cosmetic Surgery Consultants (www.cosmeticsurgeryconsultants.co.uk) they all offer very good results but none are as good at hiding your age as cosmetic surgery.