Beauty....

So a good friend of mine told me about a magazine she loves. It is called More and she shared several copies of it with me. I love the magazine - I have since bought every monthly copy. Apparently this magazine is for the "older" crowd. If by "older" they mean women with substance, confidence, strength and security in who they are - then I am all in. There is a bit of fluff - you know fashion and beauty tips - but most of it has to do with deeper things. I noticed as I was perusing the latest issue that they had a contest..... a beauty contest. You must be over 35 and submit a photo and an essay describing why you are more beautiful now than ever. It got me thinking. I feel more beautiful now with a few extra pounds, a cropped cut and saggy, scarred skin than I did when I was 20. When I was 20 I had long blonde hair, I weighed 127 lbs (thin when you are 5'10") and not a wrinkle in sight but I had more insecurities than I could carry. I was mean and selfish and lacked any sort of depth and that made me ugly. Most of us would agree that beauty is wasted on the youth - we have no appreciation of it in ourselves at that age - but that is purely surface beauty. As thin as paper. I wouldn't trade this battered body and face in for that 20 year old one ever. I appreciate seeing my eye color in my son's. I love the feel of my daughter's hand in my withered one. I feel beautiful when my husband looks at me from across the room. I hope if I make it another 40 years I will look back on myself at this age and be glad I am where I am.