Be Beautiful

Finished putting on my mascara, took a brief once over in the mirror and knew I was beautiful. I also knew it wasn’t the make-up, the hair style or the clothes. It wasn’t cheekbones or eyes or lips or skin. In fact, I knew if I looked a little closer, I’d be able to see the wrinkles starting to creep up around my eyes and the three or four gray hairs that were hiding out ready for their turn. My face is certainly rounder than it was a few years ago, and my figure is headed in a ‘matronly’ direction. No, what makes me beautiful isn’t merely how I look; it’s who I am. Being a mom taught me that.

It’s quite a remarkable feeling to be sitting on the floor playing ‘blocks’ then suddenly have two little hands stretch up to cradle your cheeks and hear those words, “*Mother, you’re beautiful.” You glance over at a nearby mirror, see the sweats, the messy hair, the sleep deprived features then turn back to see yourself in the mirror of your little boys eyes. Then awe! You can see it. Right there in front of you; in that face gazing up at you, honest and sincere and true. You ARE beautiful. And you get a glimpse of what real beauty is and what it isn’t. It’s kindness and love and purity and joy. Not happiness; joy. From the inside out.

Beauty without those things is lacking, hollow. That’s the difference between looking beautiful and being beautiful. And there is a difference. Merely looking beautiful, beautiful the way the world defines it, is never enough. That kind of beauty will never satisfy, because it is empty. There will always be a need to supplement with more. More clothes, a better hair cut, trendy make-up, a new stomach or thighs, jewelry…more. More what? More things. And things don’t satisfy. They deflect.

Maybe you're asking, “Am I beautiful?” Maybe there’s no little child handy for a similar litmus test; (and if there are they’re quite possibly cranky or sleeping or preoccupied or just not feeling angelic. Mine are grown.) That’s OK. If I want to know, if I want to be beautiful, not just look beautiful, where do I go? Yesterday. How did I treat the people around me? Today. What will I do differently, today? It’s how I feel about others and how I treat them. That’s something everyone has control over. We may not immediately be able to change our body type, financial situation, or facial features, but we can be choose to be nicer, now. We can choose to like people. We can choose to forgive. We can smile and mean it.
It starts with understanding who we are-children of God, and who all the others around us are, children of God.

“Mark 12: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

And that, ability, talent, gift comes from God.

“Moroni 10:48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”

“Doctrine and Covenants 88: 63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

So, no matter what the world says. You can be beautiful.

*“Mother” When Taylor was 2, he saw Bambi. For a long time after that, he called me “Mother” instead of “Mommy.” It’s one of my favorite memories!