Becoming Beautiful

One of the cliche things we're always told is that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".  The question it leads me to is, "How do you know when the eye beholding you thinks you are beautiful?"  The second question is, "why do I care?" :-)  Being beautiful is emphasised everywhere in our culture from magazines telling us how to become beautiful to surgeons who will use modern techniques to remove fat from unwanted places or even reconstruct your face.  We are passionate about beauty.  We crave the softest skin, the shiniest hair, and the longest lashes.  We are constantly told how to get flat abs and eliminate cellulite.  It all seems perfectly wonderful, we all can hope to achieve beauty if we find the right formula of hair products, make-up and weight loss drugs.  But, one is only beautiful in the eye of the beholder.  So, I wonder to myself, who is it that makes the choice of how my hair should be and what clothes I should wear?  And will they ever actually see me to give me positive feedback when I do it right?  If they will not, then I cannot become beautiful.  The only thing I can do is give up on the magazines and un-named persons putting this pressure on me, and find a beholder who can verify that beauty has been acheived. 

I spend a good hour a week enjoying articles on the latest in diet, make-up and hair care products to help women on their journey to becoming beautiful.  I read theses at the gym at work where I am not allowed to use hair products or make-up because, while they makes beautiful women, it makes ugly chips :-).  On some days it makes me feel hopeless, like I cannot be beautiful while I'm working.  Other days, I feel relieved because I do not have to stress about these mundane details.  Today, I found myself realizing that becoming beautiful is not something you can do in a day, and it is certainly not something you can be told how to do.  The only person who can decide if I am beautiful is me, and today, I decided, I will be beautiful on January 16th when I cross the finish line for the PF Chang's marathon.  Sure, I will not be beautiful to most of the people who see me at that moment, but I know that on that day, I will prove my physical strength and my strength of will, and I will feel beautiful as every muscle in my legs have been pushed to the limit, and helped me reach my goal.  Though, I will probably look more beautiful after I have gotten a shower and put on some make-up :-).