True Beauty. True Ugly.

As a 24 year old woman and an activity director for senior citizens, I feel as if I have a very interesting, unique perspective on the concept of beauty. In many ways, my occupation has helped me come to peace with my own struggles and insecurities with my physical appearance. I know I have written on the beauty that comes with age in other posts, but I am hoping this post will have a slightly different angle to it.On a daily basis, I am surrounded with true beauty and true ugly. When your skin is wrinkly and sagging, your hair is thinning or pure white, when you can't see, hear or walk very well; let me tell you, true beauty and true ugly is very apparent.

The World War 2 generation was an era of frugality, hardship, hard work, and simplicity. People and relationships were valued over material possessions, and beauty and love were understood by such acts as men going to war for their country and women remaining faithful in their duties as a wife, mother and homemaker, despite how she "felt" or whether or not it was "fair". It just simply was. Flash forward to today, and love and beauty is rarely found in such concepts. I find it extremely important to personally take a stand against what our current cultural definition of beauty is. Don't get me wrong; I'm not against doing what one can do to look "nice and put together". I have always believed that it is a good thing to do what we can to be the "best version of ourselves". But what I have learned, is that with age, this concept ebbs and flows.However, it doesn't matter what generation you were born in, the concept of "true beauty, true ugly" carries through humanity. When the true heart and soul of an individual is being masked by hard work, a successful job, a great body, flawless hair, money or intellectual smarts (just to name a few), the natural progression of life begins to peel away all those things, leaving a person exposed. It is this very fact that should be a "wake up" call to all of us. In a society that demands that we spend nearly every waking hour "bettering" ourselves, notice how very little of those acceptable methods have anything to do with bettering our internal beauty? It's a foreign concept, and if it is even slightly understood, it's turned into a legalistic "to do" in order to further that unobtainable beauty that society deems as the "ideal".I am going to tell you a story about 3 different residents in an effort to give evidence to this personal belief.

Resident #1: "Classy""Classy" is a beautiful, put together woman in her early 80's. She was born into money, she married money, and is by far one of the most physically attractive women in her age group. She is very cultured and elegant, but one of the worst behaved women I know. She almost preys upon the differences of others, and anything that is different or threatening in any way, gets a turned up nose and a nasty comment. What is ironic is that a woman who has been blessed with so many cultural experiences and the means to live a "full life" has turned into a close minded,arrogant fearful person. She may still look good now, but I fear what kind of an individual she will be when she loses so many of those things that she prides herself in. Evidence has shown that what will be left, will be "truly ugly".

Resident #2: "Sweetheart""Sweetheart" is in her late 90's and can barely see, walk, or hear. She struggles with pain from sitting too long, but struggles with pain when she tries to walk. However, whenever you see her, she is dressed to the nine. Her hair and nails are always done, and she is always wearing a beautiful shade of pink or purple. She has memorized poetry that she has previously written, and recites them with love and pride; poetry about her family, her faith in God and her love for nature. She has an attitude and contentment that most of us could only hope to obtain. She truly is a "true beauty".
Resident #3: "Jezebel"Ok, so, that is a bit of a harsh fictional name for this woman, but if you met her, you'd realize that this isn't really too far from the truth. "Jezebel" is 96, smarter than a whip, does use a walker but literally whips around the corners and walks faster than I do at times, sews non-stop for mission organizations and can see and hear practically perfectly for a woman her age; however, we have had people who have not moved into our senior community, because she lives there. no kidding. She is the rudest, meanest, most selfish person I have met in my life thus far. She also preys upon the weaknesses of others, shows no grace, compassion and understanding to anyone. She takes control over anything and everything, not knowing that she does these things because she knows that eventually, she won't have the control that she does. And, I think that deep down inside, she may realize that very little will be left when she does. She is "true ugly".Now I ask you, what will be left of you when you don't have a car, don't have a fully functioning body, don't have your spouse, don't have your job, can't see, hear, read, or even talk? Hopefully that question will cause you to search deeply within yourself, and outwardly to your Heavenly Father.
Friends, now, now is the time to start evaluating and investing where your personal beauty lies. Don't fall for the traps of the millions of masks that are given to us to hide our inner beauty. What takes place within will eventually become external. Trust me. I firmly believe that when Christ is dwelling within, He shines through us; past all of the distractions of who we really are.