Coming To Terms With Beauty

This world we live in is so focused on beauty and image. We post photos of ourselves (only our good ones) online, and botox is becoming a familiar word. The world doesn’t elevate the aged. It doesn’t cater to them or care for them in the way that it should.

The older I get, the more I value the elderly. I see a lifetime of true living that is held within their eyes. I see the youth that still runs inside of their heads and the love that they still crave to not only get – but give.

And I see the beauty. A beauty that can only be defined by living a complete and full life.

When you are young, you think having a bad hair day is the worst of your worries. But the older you get, the grey hair creeps in, and the hair actually thins (or goes bald for men) and you realize a bad hair day was nothing.

When you are young, you feel miserable with a cold. But as you get older, you have deeper problems to worry about. Hip replacements, arthritis, and acid reflux are just a few of the battles your body strives to overcome.

Younger people worry about being tan in the summertime. White legs are laughed at, when wearing shorts or a swimsuit. But when you are older, you see the varicose veins and the loose skin around your middle section and long for the day that white legs were all you worried about!

Yes, age happens. You can prolong it. Disguise it. But you can’t halt it.

It is the cycle of life.

We need to come to terms with the fact that beauty isn’t all there is to a life. For we won’t always have beauty. Not the kind the world appreciates.  We are more.

If we can value one another for what lies underneath the skin – instead of simply what is on top of it, I don’t think we’d struggle so much with losing youth and vitality. We could age more gracefully in the confidence that we matter.

Beauty is like a whisper. It’s only here for a moment.  And we can do what we can to be attractive – that’s not a horrible thing to want.  But we can also strive for something more lasting. Something that comes from the inside. For it will outlast the fading beauty of youth. It will impact longer and will resonate within all those it touches.

That’s true beauty. The heart and soul of a person.