The past week, I’ve attended a handful of huge vendor shows. At each one, there have been booths of people selling beauty products. Many of them stand in front of their booths, trying to entice customers by offering samples or mini-makeovers.
I politely smile and nod and continue on my way. Or, at least I try.
Twice, the men working in the booth actually stepped in front of me so I had to stop and proceeded to comment on those “puffy, dark bags under your eyes.”
(Yeah, I’d like to see what they look like in fifteen years when they’ve spent the last six weeks running on five hours of sleep a night, chocolate, and anxiety.)
The conversation with one of them went something like this:
“Come. Try my product,” the guy with the fake French accent said.
“No, thank you.”
“Pleaze, you must!” he insisted, continuing to block my escape route.
“No, thank you. I’m really not interested.”
“Oh, but those unsightly bags, the puffy skin! I can fix you!” he proclaimed while I looked around hoping Captain Cavedweller would magically appear. No one bothers me when he’s around. “Here, let me show you.”
He moved into the booth to grab his magic tube of gunk and I took the opportunity to blend into the crowd.
A very similar situation happened again about thirty minutes later. By then, I was convinced I must look like some old hag that crawled out of the mire. When I finally caught up to CC, I asked him if I more closely resembled Medusa or Methuselah. Taken aback by my question, he stared at me a moment then grinned and assured me I looked perfectly fine to him (I knew there was a reason I kept him around.)
Since I’ve been around thousands and thousands of people in the past week, I’ve noticed some people seem so very comfortable in their own skin while others struggle so had to fit to the “norm” that society dictates.
But here’s the thing… outward beauty is fleeting and fickle. But grace and inward beauty can take you far.
And that’s one reason I love this quote. Beauty is grace and confidence. It’s not about being a size two with flowing locks of golden hair or a perfect tan or whatever it is society has deemed as “the look” this season. Beauty is learning to love yourself for who you are and being confident in yourself. That’s real beauty. And that’s giving yourself grace.
So if you, like me, sometimes struggle because you’d like to look more like society’s ideal of beauty, give yourself some grace and remember happy girls truly are the prettiest because the beauty shines up from their hearts and out their faces.
And there’s not a tube of cream, makeup, or magic elixir that can shine any brighter than a good heart and a warm smile.
