Beauty

A lot of emphasis has been placed on being beautiful. Global commercialization spreads the message that links life with beauty. From magazines to Hollywood, the basic message spells BEAUTY. Haute couture goes with beauty. Dashing man goes with beauty. Money goes with beauty. Fame goes with beauty. Donald Trump goes with beauty, or beauties in his case.

The young....and the not so young, impressionable / gullible minds become fixed on what they read on magazines and what they see in the movies, the unrealistic standards of beauty set by waif-like supermodels and actresses, and they set out with a vengeance to emulate the glamorous ones. Hours spent on preening, money spent to maintain a certain standard of beauty. Placenta treatment to stay forever young. Skin whitening solution to lighten the skin. Nose job, boob job, liposuction to get rid of the flab. Embroidery used to be referred to as a needlepoint job on a piece of cloth. The word is now linked to eyebrows.

My work has put me in constant contact with rich, glamorous ladies who are no longer in their prime. For some of them, the need to remain young and beautiful is very strong. Some embrace the process of aging with grace, but most struggle to accept it. The wife of a prominent businessman told me she needs 2 hours to prepare her toilette before leaving home. Most of them will not be caught dead without their makeup on. Branded clothes and jewellery became their armour.

And the obsession with beauty does not stop with women. Men can be pretty vain as well. Men go for facial. Men spend hours at the gym to develop six-packs. Men armed with hair-spray, gel and wax to style their hair.

Which brings us to this question. Does beauty actually instil more confidence in a person?

Regardless of the answer, I do know that a beauty fears the inevitable aging process, more so than a Plain Jane. The mirror, once a great friend, becomes a great foe. The beautiful ones lose confidence when they start to lose their looks.

Beauty is only skin deep. True radiance comes from the spirit. A happy, carefree spirit exudes more radiance than Lancome or SK-II. It doesn't come in bottled form, and everybody can afford it. Once the spirit is uplifted with the Word, our looks will undergo a transformation that is way cheaper and more genuine than plastic surgery. We smile more often, our eyes soften, our faces become gentle. Wrinkles will come, and lines will stay, but they will enhance our beauty, not mar it. Our beauty will become more dignified, and we will walk with confidence in our strides. Not the confidence that comes from being beautiful, but the confidence that come from the knowledge that we are all beautiful in God's eyes.

I have been asked a few times what I see in Mr. Caveman, as he's not tall, dark and brooding, doesn't fit the criteria of the word macho.....and he's certainly no Brad Pitt! It's general knowledge that he loves to sleep and eat....and sleep yet again. And grunts his approval and disapproval in a typical caveman manner.

My answer is simply this : His spirit is beautiful.