Beauty and Confidence

I hate make-up commercials. They are selling far more than colored chemicals and creams to put on your face. They are selling a way of life, a way of thinking that makes you think you need these things. That you deserve them, because somehow this make-up, this hair dye, this line-minimizer will make you better.

Not just make you look better. No, it will make you better.

Because somehow, we began to equate beauty with confidence. Somewhere down the road we decided that people who don't look pretty, aren't neat and tidy, have too many wrinkles and not the right lipstick, aren't worth listening to. But the people who can put together a nice outfit, who can affored the face creams and cover-ups, are worth more.

Why? Because they spend time and money on cosmetics?

Some commercials say, 'You're worth it' others say, "Regain your confidence," they all say, 'you have to be pretty to be worthwhile.' Before you can do a good job, act right, be respected, you have to look good.

Why do looks and confidence go hand in hand? Why do women feel better after they have put their make up on? What is it about a new outfit that makes you stand taller, walk prouder? The clothes and cosmetics don't change who you are. Yet for some reason we let them rule our attitudes. We let them determine how we act.

We get a spot on our shirt and we shrink our shoulders all day to hide it. We get a zit and we hide it under cream and check every mirror to make sure it stays hidden. We get a rip in our cloths and we do a cover-up dance to make sure no one can see the hole.

So I was a bit clumsy and spilled the ketchup. I snagged my cuff on the car door and oopps, there's a rip. My face isn't perfectly clear. Why can't we just admit our blemishes, why can't we be comfortable in our own skin?

We all need to take a step back, to pause and think. Am I putting too much effort into my appearance? Do I draw my confidence and self-worth from my clothes and cosmetics? Where else does it come from? What else do I have to offer besides a pretty face and co-ordinated outfit? Draw on your strengths, your real strengths, not the ones you purchase.

Because your worth has nothing to do with how you look. You worth has everything to do with who you are and what you do. We are surrounded by lies every single day. We have to take a step back and remember to plug our ears.

You are beautiful without makeup, without fancy clothes, without hair gel or dye. Be yourself. God gave you gray hairs and wrinkles, zits and moles. Wear them with pride.