This is the final post in my three-part Know Your Own Beauty series.
Make sure you read Know Your Own Beauty Part 1 and Know Your Own Beauty Part 2
Important Note – If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder, please consult a trained medical professional for assistance.
Today I would like to wrap the series up with the last of my personal thoughts.
Feel beautiful at any age
As much as I would like to, I’m not going to sugarcoat this.
If you don’t feel comfortable in your skin at 24 or 34, life is going to feel a lot crappier at 44.
To be honest, that’s one of the reasons I was motivated to write this series in the first place. Now that my looks and body are changing, I’m acutely aware of what I previously took for granted.
Don’t learn the hard way, appreciate and know your own beauty as early as possible.
If you genuinely love yourself and know your true beauty (which isn’t just about what’s on the outside) you are more likely to have a better attitude when it comes to aging.
Related content to help you know your worth –
- Know Your Own Worth
- Know Your Worth – 10 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself
- 5 Myths that Stop You Loving and Accepting Yourself
- 12 Techniques to Stop Feeling Inferior
- Know Your Own Worth – Even When it Feels Like the World Doesn’t Quite Agree With You
Flick the cosmetic surgery
It worries me how much we are obsessed with looking good or more to the point looking young.
Twenty-somethings are getting Botox. There are liposuction, implants, and facelifts galore. People are having spack filler (okay that’s not an official word but that’s what I call it) applied to their bodies at an alarming rate.
People are starting to look rather freaky (and not in a good way) with all of the work they are having done. With all of this slicing and dicing – it’s like a bad slasher flick.
I’m not exactly sure when it happened but we seem to have fallen in love with fake.
Just my personal opinion but fake is crap. Fake sucks.
I bought a book years ago about dating over 40. I was excited to see what this book had to offer. I opened it to find the first chapter was based solely on getting plastic surgery to appeal to a man so that he would marry you. I was disgusted and disappointed (needless to say I never read the rest of the book).
If you have to pay someone to cut you open just to land a man, I can guarantee that man isn’t worth having.
I’m not against plastic surgery. Plastic surgery has helped a lot of people who have really needed it over the years.
It’s the reasons we have cosmetic surgery that concern me.
No amount of surgery is going to help you if you have a deep sense of self-loathing.
I hate wrinkles as much as the next person but there is a big difference between hating wrinkles and hating yourself.
Related post – Do You Feel Invisible?
Focus on health and beauty
If there is one thing I have finally gotten my head around over the last couple of years is that it’s not about looking beautiful on the outside.
It’s about being healthy.
Beauty is fantastic but not if it doesn’t come with being healthy.
You could be thinking I’m only saying this because I’m getting older and yes that definitely has something to do with it. I’ve had a few health problems spring up over the last couple of years, some of it stuff I’d never thought about before.
Being over 40 means you have to start having tests done because you are ‘in that age range’. I’m not going to lie folks it’s intimating and a bit of a jolt to the part of you that realizes you’re not 25 anymore.
I also have an elderly Mum with health problems. Mum’s had cancer twice in the last couple of years. It’s a bit hard to not take this health stuff seriously because it is serious.
It’s important to point out that health concerns are not just for old people.
I know twenty-somethings struggling with eating disorders as well as young people with serious health issues. I’ve lost friends in their twenties from illness.
We might feel bulletproof when we are young but our bodies still need looking after.
Having a great-looking body on the outside that’s unhealthy on the inside isn’t much good to anyone no matter what age they are.
From a weight perspective, if you are underweight, overweight, or obese focus on your health not just on the way you look.
Focus on inner beauty
This is probably the part where you think I’m going to tell you inner beauty is more important than what’s on the outside.
The truth is it’s all the same thing.
It’s yin and yang – two parts that make up the whole.
Without fully understanding and appreciating your inner beauty you won’t fully appreciate your external looks.
If you neglect your inner beauty (who you really are) your outside looks won’t mean a hell of a lot. You’ll simply be a pretty-looking shell with no substance.
In turn, when you are feeling fabulous about the way you look on the outside, it gives your inner beauty a chance to shine through.
The two work hand in hand to make you who you are. Be a beautiful person with substance.
You are beautiful
Can you look in the mirror and tell yourself you are beautiful?
Perhaps you can do this when you’re dressed up and heading out for a night on the town. You’ve got your favorite dress on, your gorgeous shoes and your make-up looks lovely.
But you might even struggle to say the words when you are looking at what you consider your best.
Here’s another question for you.
Can you tell yourself you are beautiful when you are in your flannel pajamas, with no makeup, hair either up or all over the place and you have just rolled out of bed?
What do you say to that person when you see her in the mirror?
That’s when you need to know you are beautiful.
That’s the sort of belief you want and need. Loving yourself and your beauty in your natural state, a living breathing loving person. Now that’s beautiful and so are you!
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends on social media. One of them might just need to hear how beautiful she is today!
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