Smart Woman Articles on Beauty

I am a Beautiful Woman

by Shelly Kapoor

A bouquet of flowers gives me the confidence of a goddess. I feel special, beautiful and loved all at the same time. A smile from a child on the bus makes my day. When a guy breaks my heart, triple chocolate cake may be a temporary fix, but it will take much more to heal my broken heart and soothe my tears.

I can never shop enough, talk enough and have enough chocolate in my life…Who am I ? I am a woman. Any woman…Every woman.  A woman with hopes and dreams that have been stepped on and crushed to pieces but because I have faith, I still go on. I could be any woman – a woman working at a bakery that makes scrumptious pies and cakes all day long but eats none herself. Afraid of gaining even one pound, she doesn’t feast on her own delicacies afraid that if her scale tips anything past 125 lbs, she won’t be able to find a man.

Women are: Emotional? Yes. Carry their hearts on their sleeves? Definitely yes…but who is able to give life and bring up a child? Who always gives a shoulder to cry on? Who is ready anytime to whip-up a hot meal for her family; Who is able to balance a family, a career, and keep her and her loved ones safe & full? You guessed right again, only a woman can do all of this!

In the past 15 years or so, there has been an increasing trend towards something. Women do it; men do it…and children definitely do it. What am I talking about? Everyone has started to believe that skinny equals beautiful. You are seeing more and more teen girls being plagued with a fear of eating. Men tend to give preferences to more in-shape or skinny women.

Women, by all means, are their own enemy at times. The more veered to the left your weight scale is, the higher your self-esteem and self-love will soar for that day. It’s a direct relationship. But how long will this go on? When will we allow these distorted perceptions of beauty to distort our lives and our reality? If you don’t stand up for yourself or love yourself…who will? And why should they? How can we expect someone else to love or accept us, even with our flaws, if we can’t give that to ourselves to begin with? Being beyond a size 2 is not a flaw. Being overly critical and mean to ourselves is.

The way in which we easily and openly forgive those that hurt us; the way in which we give our hearts away with eyes full of hope & promise – it is these inner emotions and stirrings that reflect our true beauty. It is these things which surge from our being, our essence that determine how good and understanding of a person we really are. This is beauty. This is what we should strive for…not for that hip haircut all the trendy ladies are wearing now…or those pair of boots that will go great with your fall wardrobe. Yes, these things do help us feel better about ourselves & our appearance; However, this is not where true beauty starts or ends.

How we feel about ourselves is highly related to what and how much we are eating. Your brain needs a certain amount of chemicals such as B-complex vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids to produce enough serotonin or “feel good” chemicals. If you already have developed an unhealthy self-image and you start to cut meals in an effort to lose weight,  you will inevitably feel even worse about yourself. Is that what we really want?  We, as women, already deal with so much, why should we deprive ourselves of a full life and all the luxuries and delights that someone up in the heavens has given us? Do you want to spend the one life you’ve been given eating only salads or counting every calorie? While I’m not saying eat everything that you lay eyes on, but give yourself a break one day a week to eat anything you like. Kick back, put that box of warm, hot cheesy pizza in your lap and enjoy life!

When our lives are over it won’t matter if you could fit into your high school dress at age 35, or if you were able to stick to your diet or not.
What will matter is how richly you lived your life. Our parents work hard their whole lives all in an effort to make our lives better & easier: How many times did you go out of your way to make your parents happy? How often did you tell your husband how much you love him and how much you appreciate him? The joy & happiness we spread is the only joy we keep. If you are going through any trouble, or any heartbreak, I plead you to hold on. “Do not take delays in life as denials. Look towards the sunlight and you will never see the shadows.”

Remember, our bodies are just shells. Do not let your weight determine how you feel about yourself. That is not where our real worth and true beauty lies. Our beauty and significance lies in the depths of our souls. It lies in the lending hand we give to someone in need. True beauty is how often we choose to make someone else happy over what would make us happy. Remember if you see no value in yourself, no one else will either. That could be your husband, your boss, your co-workers, even your friends. If you don’t stand up for yourself, then who else will? Do not ever let any other person make you feel that you are not worthy, lovable, and special; Because you are. Believe that, and see how your life will change!
 

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