I am parked on my couch today. I hate days like today, because I saw it coming last night. I crawled into bed in 9:30 (about two hours earlier than normal), which should have indicated something was about to go down. And in the middle of my 5:30 am workout, I had to excuse myself to get sick in the bathroom. And yes, I went back out and finished the class. But I completely half-assed it.
And by the time I got home I had gone from "ugh" to "uuuggghhh." So I put my daughters on the bus and made a nest on the couch where I promptly passed out after answering the few most important emails.
The day is done, and I finally hit the shower. A little scary when I peeked in the mirror to assess the damage. Who cares though? This the beauty of being home.
And as I emerged feeling so much better, I spent the extra ten minutes I would have loved to doing something else drying my hair. I did it because I know my hair looks way better when I make that little bit of extra effort. And then I chuckled because my girlfriend and I have had a running joke about at what point in life you "give up" making an effort. As in, wondering what point you get to as an older woman, for example, when you say to yourself, "screw it…I am cutting my hair off, wearing sensible shoes and elasticized waistbands". Not everyone goes there, but many do. Maybe I'm delusional, or just vain…but I have a really hard time seeing myself making that transition. Maybe it's just hard to imagine myself as a 75 year old woman rocking a pair a Rockports knowing I'm sporting a bunch of tattoos under the pale pink matching sweatsuit that I'd be wearing. But that's just me.
But ultimately it's not the effort of drying our hair or our sensible shoes that does or doesn't make us attractive. Of course, a little effort goes a long way. But the older I get, the more I realize beauty comes from within. Case in point. I work with a woman who is by anyone's standards a classic beauty. And yet she recently gave birth, and is at home, falling in love with her new child. She sent me a picture last week, of the two of them in the early morning. No makeup, no hair done, no fuss. I had never seen her look more beautiful. She was lit from within.
I see that with my friends, both daily, and online, and I see that with people I don't know as I pass them in everyday life. We live in a world that celebrates physical perfection. It doesn't exist. It's an unrealistic standard, and it makes us all miserable if we pay too much attention to it. Of course, who doesn't wish they all had movie star good looks? Guess what? Even they don't look that good. Do you know how much work goes into putting someone together for a simple picture? And then how much photoshopping takes place after it is snapped? Or worse, if that celeb is captured looking "not glam" it is posted for the whole world to see and mock. We are so much better than this. It's awful we get excited to see which perfect star actually has cellulite, just because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
I'm at the point in my life where I see beauty all around me. But it isn't always people that you'd picture as classically attractive. It's the people who constantly have a smile on their face. Or the guy who even though he might not catch your eye if you were to pass him walking down the street, he's got the biggest heart on the planet, is so in love with his wife and is such a good person it makes him a total hottie.
We all have days when we don't feel our best. Some people go to great lengths to look their best every day. Some people put no effort in at all. What is most important, it would seem, is not the clothes or the makeup or accessories we all adorn ourselves with to look our best. It's how we carry ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, it shows. When we are happy, it shows. And when aren't, it shows too.
Check out this amazing video below. We are all beautiful. We just need to be reminded of it sometimes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGDMXvdwN5c
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