As a woman, I have learned over time there are certain things that truly help you feel beautiful. I have also learned that when you feel beautiful, you really are beautiful (from the inside out and therefore, the outside in).
There are so many things that can affect how you feel about yourself. For me, there are very specific areas that contribute to my overall sense of well-being and beauty.
Me as a young woman riding my horse in a parade
I almost look at these things as Feel Beautiful account deposits. The more of these you have and are actively working on, the better you feel about yourself, the more beautiful you feel, and the better able you are to cope with whatever life dishes out to you:
- 1). Finding an actively pursuing your passions on a regular basis. You may be surprised at just how helpful this is. It is a major mistake in life to not actively pursue your passions. Passions are essentially things you have an extreme interest in. Passions show your humanity. They reflect your personality, your curiosities and what you can seemingly effortlessly get joy from. They can easily fill you up and sustain you when you are running on empty. They help bring out the best in you. They help you to be regularly happy, and to feel beautiful, somehow.
It’s interesting. Isn’t it? Discovering and spending quality time on your passions affects you very deeply and positively. Every fiber of your being benefits from it. Don’t loose sight of this. It’s one of those elusive “silver bullets”.
Passions vary from person to person and can change in intensity through an individual’s life. Some of my passions are:
- Balanchine-style ballet choreography
- Flowers and gardening
- Horses/dressage
- Music- including Beethoven, highly structured (classical) rock & ballads
- Rare scene and artistic photography
- Sailing
- Tennis
- Timelessly beautiful clothing
- Travel (especially to European cities, mountains, coast lines and islands)
- Vintage sports cars (that have amazing lines and handle phenomenally well)
If you can only pursue one passion in a given week, even if it’s for just ONE HOUR, you are doing OK. Don’t beat yourself up. There will be times and seasons where you will be able to spend multiple hours and even days on this and other passions. Just make sure you do a little bit every week when times are tough. It will be your lifeline.
2). Being very proactive about being and staying physically and emotionally healthy and in top condition (when possible). Believe me ladies, I understand the challenges here. I don’t, however, care what you feel you have stacked against you. The reality is, if you are gentle and patient with yourself and make this a priority, you will feel beautiful from it. Some of this gets harder the older you get. Some of it gets easier. You just need to be continuously adjusting your approach and managing your morale. This will change (and drastically improve) your life including cause you to feel beautiful.
3). Being spiritually on a path to find the truth for why we are here and what the hope is for us for what we accomplish while here. There is such a wide spectrum for how individuals respond to this one. Ever since I can remember I have been very curious about this subject. I do have specific, evolving, beliefs, which I’d like to think that with every passing year align more fully with the truth. They have come from the continuous study and challenging of information that has been made available to me in a variety of forms. If there is a genuine message to us for why we are here and it includes a specific hope for what we might accomplish while here, I do not want to be ignorant of it.
4). Operating the principles learned via number 3. This, like everything else here is, of course, a personal choice. I will say, I personally feel more peace and joy in my life when and as I do this. Let me add, baby steps here are huge.
That's it! Give it a go. It works, honest!