Health News / August 2006
Means and
Ways to Beauty
Some people think that beauty belongs to the twenty-five-year-old socialite who stars in her own reality television show or the 15-year-old country singer who has a number one hit song. But young people age, rich people run out of money, successful people face professional setbacks, and healthy people become sick.
Former model and breast cancer survivor Sue Miller says, “People can’t control everything,
but they can learn to be beautiful all the time. There are ways to find true beauty and share it with others.” She discusses those ways in her book, I’m Tougher than I Look.
Sue believes the first is to redefine beauty. “Some women have classically beautiful features.
Some do not. Millions of dollars a year are being spent on plastic surgery. Women fix their noses, take out the wrinkles, or remove the circles under their eyes. But what happens
when puffy lips go out of style after women have spent millions of dollars emulating
puffy-lipped actresses? And what happens
to those who have starved themselves to be thin when curvaceous models take over the covers of the fashion magazines?” According to Sue, “The key to feeling beautiful is to define beauty for yourself, rather than letting others do it for you. Your looks belong to you, not to the cosmetics industry or to plastic surgeons.”
She says, “Empower yourself to look the way you want to look rather than the way others tell you that you should look.”
The key may be to find and develop inward beauty. Sue says. “ If you’re not gifted with the type of facial features or body that can turn heads, carry yourself as though you were. When you walk into a room, project self-confidence, whether or not you’re feeling it. When you act as though your self-esteem is high, then you feel good about yourself, and it shows. Others will notice your inner glow, and you will become the most beautiful person in the room.”
She has found that words can also create beauty. “So what if you’re not a supermodel or if your body is imperfect? You can control what you say and how you say it. If your words convey empathy, wisdom, concern, and compassion, you will be sharing beauty in a lasting way. Superficial beauty can never compete with that.”
According to Sue, being centered - and silent - can be especially beautiful. “You don’t have to say anything to share beauty. Sometimes, sitting in silence and reaching out to someone with a hug or a gesture is the best kind of beauty. When your quiet presence
soothes other people and brings comfort to them, that’s more beautiful than all of the mass market beauty money could buy.”
She says making others feel beautiful is another way to beauty. “Help other people find the beauty inside themselves. They may have put on weight over the holiday season or lost their hair. But you can show them their worth hasn’t diminished in your eyes. You can bring more beauty into the world by helping others believe in theirs, too.”
While some people are lucky enough to be born with superficial beauty, that’s not the type of beauty that will last forever. Beauty that you can find in yourself, and that you can generate in others, is lasting, and that is something you can control.
For more information about Sue Miller and “I’m Tougher Than I Look” (Williams Cohen Press 2006), visit: www.imtougherthanilook.com.
Copyright © 2005-2006 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Femme Fair 2006
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