Beauty on the Body

On Friday night, my 5-year-old got herself all dolled up for Daddy to return home from work.  She put on her favorite dress, jewelry, lip gloss and her Hello Kitty purse.  She was prancing around and feeling beautiful, picked up the toys and instructed me to vacuum so the house would be in ship-shape for our traditional pizza/movie night.  She was feeling physically beautiful, her spirit was joyful that Daddy was coming home, and she wanted her surroundings to match it all.  It was so much fun to experience.

At bed time, she started to really cry about how she had to take off her pretty things and wouldn't be beautiful any more.  It absolutely broke my heart.  My husband started talking with her about how what we put on our bodies is not what makes us beautiful.

I talked with her again this morning about how her lip gloss and jewelry are not what make her beautiful.  She is beautiful as she is, inside and out, and all the things we put on ourselves are how we express our feelings of beauty.  I even said to her that Mommy is beautiful just as she is, but when I put on my makeup and my earrings it is how I tell the world that I feel beautiful today.  (I think it was a big step for me to so freely say I am beautiful just as I am...I just wish that the feeling was more permanent.)

I really had to sit back and take note of the words coming out of my mouth.  What do I put on my body?  Do I wear it with pride?  How do I feel about my inner beauty based on how it manifests on the outside?  Is it a chicken/egg paradox: do I feel no beauty on the inside so it manifests outside, or is it vice versa?

A few days ago, a friend challenged me to go beyond seeing beauty and recognizing it in my surroundings, he challenged me to try being the beauty I so deserve.  I'm still wrapping my head around what that means, in regards to not only self-care, but my spirit and my behavior.

I have really started to own the belief that I DESERVE beauty.  I deserve to have beautiful surroundings, I deserve to see the beauty in others, I deserve beauty outside of myself.  How do I live my beauty?  Where does it rest?  Am I exuding beauty to add to the array?  There's a lot to think about there!

I deserve BEAUTY in my life!