So I am in my home in Guadalajara, and I was reading one of the local newspapers when I came across what I thought were some beauty tips, so naturally that caught my attention. It turned out to be something quite different.
Evidently Audrey Hepburn, one of the most beautiful women of our time, was asked to give some beauty advice, and while I’m not quoting, she said something to the effect of, “If you want to have beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; for beautiful hair, let children run their fingers through it regularly, for a slim waistline, make sure that those who are hungry are fed, and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”
That stuck such a chord with me, I think I must have read it 10 times. I’ve been a keynote speaker involved with positive thinking and effective communication training for 15 years, and I’m always reading different inspirational quotes, and trying to find words of wisdom for myself, and to pass on to others, but this one really struck a chord with me because it made me think of how I see people when they might not be at their best; it made me reflect on the things that I say about others when they’re not around; it reminded me how often I let my hair get messed up while I’m playing with my nephew, how much I give—or fail to give– to those around me, and how dedicated I am to my own faith.
It’s true that we tend to see people who do beautiful things as beautiful, and we tend to see people who do ugly things as ugly. We know this, but sometimes we all need to be reminded. Ever since I read the Hepburn quote, I’ve been focusing more on doing those things.
The point is that some days we feel a little more beautiful, and some days we feel a little less beautiful, and it’s important to feel beautiful, because we all are beautiful. We were made that way.
It made me think of my grandmother.
I remember when I was a child I really believed that my grandmother was the most beautiful woman in the world. I used to write papers about her when I was in school, and I always included something about her being soooo pretty. Now that she’s gone, and I look at pictures of her throughout her life, I can see that by conventional standards she was no raving beauty. But I think of her and how beautiful she was to me every time I see awe-inspiring beauty such as the Aurora Borealis, or the Grand Canyon. I think of her every time something beautiful happens in my life, because she expressed such beautiful things to me, and in my eyes she really was beautiful—beautiful TO ME..
I think in this culture we are all very self-critical, and most of us would like to be more beautiful. Those words spoken by a beautiful women, when asked to give a couple of beauty tips, helped me to feel more beautiful, and they’ll help you too if today, just for one day, you focus on seeing the beauty in others, speaking beautiful things about others, allowing your hair or makeup to be less than perfect if it means someone else smiles more, helping those who need it, and knowing how beautiful the power is that runs through your veins, which is in you, but not of you. If you can do this for just one day, I guarantee you will feel a little more beautiful, and you will be more beautiful, just as my grandmother was.
You’ll be more beautiful because you’ll be expressing the beauty that is already there in you—the beauty that is your birthright.
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Tags: Beauty, Thought for the Day