#4. BEAUTY IS FLEETING
Beauty is fleeting, indeed! I look back on photos from just ten years ago and think I still look like that, until I come face to face with a mirror and realize that the fleeting process seems to be picking up speed! So, my mirror will now be used for emergency purposes only, like checking for lipstick on my teeth.
I once heard that the best exercise for losing weight is pushing yourself away from the table, so it would make sense that the best solution when you are horrified by what you see in the mirror, is to push yourself away from the mirror. Push yourself away from yourself and go out and help someone who needs you. There are millions of lonely people today who could use a slightly overweight friend who has freckles and wrinkles. They would be happy to accept help from someone who can’t fit into the pants she wore last summer or who hasn’t been to the beauty parlor to have her roots done.
After coloring my hair since I was in my thirties, I decided to embrace my gray when I read these verses in Proverbs which say, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, it is found in the way of righteousness.” and “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” (Proverbs 16:31,20:29)
There are books written about it and websites devoted to it, so going gray must be a “thing!” One blog site says, “Its not just a hair color, it’s a lifestyle!” There are articles like, “10 Expert Tips On How To Take The Leap And Go Gray,” from The Huffington Post and “Going Gray: 12 Things That Happen When You Stop Coloring Your Hair” from msn.com. So I managed the awkward transition from the fake reddish brown color from a box to silvery natural highlights from my creator.
Created on Purpose, For a Purpose
Once we put away the facade of perfection, we can find our true beauty. We were not mistakes. We were created as unique individuals, not carbon copies of what we see the media portraying as acceptable. God has a wonderful sense of diversity. We see it in nature and the thousands of varieties of plants and animals, all created on purpose, for their own purpose. And we were created on purpose and for a purpose.
Psalm 139: 13-16 says:
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
And Psalm 8:4-5 tells us just how valuable we are in God’s sight:
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”
In 2 Corinthians 10:12 the Apostle Paul says this: “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
Beauty From Within
1 Peter 3:3-4 says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
We must change our perception of beauty from what is being forced on us through the media and look at what true beauty entails. If your friends will forsake you for that extra inch on your waistline or those well earned laugh lines, than I say, you need new friends!
Believe me, people are so wrapped up in themselves that they hardly notice your flaws. But if you are so wrapped up in yourself that your flaws are all you can see, then it’s time to start unwrapping.
It’s possible that you have become your own worst enemy, your most ungracious critic. The illusion of perfection may have infiltrated your self-image, but the good news is that feelings of inferiority can be reversed.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” That’s also a quote from Mrs. Roosevelt. It’s time to start rethinking some of the lies you may have accepted as truth, and to begin an attitude adjustment, which can liberate you from the chains of comparison.
