The Gold Standard of Beauty - A Fleek and a Half
My 5.45am self looks very different from my noon self. Ed can testify. 5.45am self looks a teeny bit disheveled; her scarf which she carefully wrapped around her hair last night has unraveled and is now hanging loosely around her neck. She's frowning because she's not a morning person but a recent early-bird convert. Her shoulders are droopy and she doesn't drink coffee, so she has to rely on her natural ability to perk up for the day. Her eyes are swollen because she slept late as usual. In summary, she just isn't the girl you'd see on the cover of Vogue. Now my noon-self, well, well, Charlize, scoot on over (and I might be over-estimating my appearance here, but bear with me for the post)! She doesn't look half-bad at all! I can tell you that within those few hours, some form of deliberate daily beautification ritual has taken place. Some water, toothpaste, lip color, eyeliner, some jewelry, some faux fur, heck, a cat in the crook of my arm to complete the look. All premeditated and done with the intention of banishing my 5.45am self for another 12 hours.
Here's the fun part of this post...if fun means reflective and joyfully thought-provoking.
What daily, deliberate rituals do I do, to make myself pretty on the inside? I hear people say this all the time, ' He's just cute, nothing else' or 'She's a fleek and a half and nothing else...just air inside. She's just pretty on the outside.'
I'd like to be my noon self round the clock both inside and outside! This inside bit is a little tricky though. How can we get pretty on the inside? By being determined to build character in ourselves; by deciding daily to be the better version of ourselves.
Now, my 5.45 self stares at a mirror and goes 'Nah-ah, we need to fix that', But how does my inner self see herself, or understand if she's airy and needs some substance? She probably needs a mirror; a character mirror, that tells her whether she's beautiful or not. Here's where the bible comes in. The bible is a funky, soul mirror. Loads of people hate to look into it, well, because they look a little like the 5.45am me! Well, sometimes my soul cringes when she looks into the bible too! Lol! The bible isn't designed to condemn or point at your wrinkles. It was written to teach us to develop pretty characters and even prettier spirits!
We shouldn't go out looking like our 5.45am selves and neither should we go out with disheveled, messy spirits!
“What matters is not your outer appearance-the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes- but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.”
If you missed the previous post, here it is!
