You won’t find beauty in eye liner or push up bras. It’s not hidden underneath a pair of killer stilettos. You will find beauty in the confidence of a girl who knows who she is and what she’s about. The girl who doesn’t really care if you like her because she loves herself. You’ll find it in a mother’s love, covered in spit up stains and yesterdays socks – the mother whose overwhelming passion for her children can shine through the worst hair days and survives temper tantrums that would make your toes curl.
I think it is beautiful to see two people utterly in love. Not the romance novel sweeping you off your feet love at first sight kind of love, because I think that kind of love often fizzles out after time, after the honeymoon pheromones wear off. I’m talking about the love that survives after that – that you’ve probably noticed in the couples you admire who stand together like a rock that cannot be turned. They never tear each other down, but often build each other up, sometimes without saying a word.
I don’t consider myself a conventional beauty. I don’t have pouty lips or a slim waist line. I won’t be spending hours doing my hair or applying makeup before leaving the house. The truth is, I don’t think I own any makeup and my hair styling regiment consists of hoping I remember to brush my hair in the morning. But I do think that it’s important to take care of yourself.
They say you can’t take care of others if you aren’t taking care of yourself and while I don’t always follow my own advice, I try. I make an effort to buy clothes that fit me – that make me feel good about myself and comfortable in my own skin. I try to strive for quality so that even when I’m covered in spit up stains and can’t see straight, I’m still wearing one of my favorite things.
I want my children to be proud of me and inspired by me. And I want them to be happy and feel beautiful and confident and loved. How will they get there if I don’t provide a good example? If not for myself, I find and foster my beauty for them because they make me happy and they fill me with love and they grow and learn new things and inspire me so constantly that you can’t help but feel confident in their goodness. Motherhood does that to you – you learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible and you love more than you knew you were capable of. It’s beautiful.
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