Beautiful Like Me: Qualities of Beauty

Having just taken my last final exam for the semester, I’m totally frazzled and late today. This post may not be completely coherent since I only just now started it...after 1pm...and on Monday, but I really wanted to participate in today’s “Beautiful Like Me” project. I think just getting some of these thoughts down on cyber-paper might be a great start to a regular every-other-Monday tradition. The driving force behind the Beautiful Like Me Project is to raise awareness about poor body image and lack of self-esteem in today’s youth. Posts across the web occur every two weeks on Mondays. Won’t you join us HERE?

Today’s question: “What features/qualities would we like today’s children to see as beautiful?”

I have to admit, when I think of someone as truly beautiful, I instantly see someone who portrays what Christians often refer to as the fruits (i.e. end result, harvest, outcome) of the spirit. The fruitful list is spilled in Galatians chapter 5 as: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” But...rather than steal an easy answer from scripture, let me just mention a few important characteristics of beauty that I hope my daughter and sons will reflect:

*Humility – These beautiful people may be physically beautiful, or they may be highly intelligent, or they may be extremely wealthy, or they may be none of these things. Either way, you’d never know of their abilities or accomplishments based on their actions toward you. In other words, they aren't big-headed about it. They do not believe they are greater than any other and they strive to humbly serve those they meet. They are enjoyable to spend time with because they love you as they love themselves (sorry, another scripture reference).

*Optimism – These beautiful people promote a positive outlook on life. They are generally happy people and fun, enjoyable, and easy to be around. Like everyone, they face hard and painful days, but they demonstrate making lemonade out of lemons.

*Inquisitiveness & curiosity – These beautiful people are intrigued by life. They enjoy exploring and discovering new things. They are fascinated by and invested in life. In personal relationships, they desire to discover everything about you—to discover what makes you tick. They’re enjoyable to be around because they help you rediscover the excitement of the mundane, the fascinations of the ordinary.

*Loyalty – These beautiful people know all about your dirty laundry, and they love you anyway. They are forgiving, reliable and consistent. They are lovely to be around because you know you can be yourself. There’s no pretending and no mind games to play. The whole world may be angry with you and your loyal friend will support you even if they disagree with something you did.

This list could go on and on, right? There are many faces of “beauty” that I’d love my children to learn about. I’ve briefly skimmed several of the other blogs who are participating in today’s question and I enjoyed and cheered over what they had to say, too. There were things I read that I wanted to say, “Oh yeah, me too, me too! Add that one to MY list!” The great thing about this project is that it is creating dialogue. My sincere thanks goes to the ladies who invited me to participate. I strongly encourage all of my followers and other visitors to join in, as well.

To see what some of the other “Beautiful Like Me” participants are saying today, check out the blogs below:

http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2009/05/beautiful-like-me-strength-in-self.html

http://fiveflowermom.blogspot.com/2009/05/beautiful-like-me-kindness.html

http://mooreboysrus.blogspot.com/2009/05/beautiful-like-me.html

http://www.shoutdaily.com/2009/05/beautiful-like-me-conformity-is-a-trap/

http://useyourwisdom.com/?p=385

http://lifeandtimesofawickedstepmom.wordpress.com/

http://wanderingsaffachick.blogspot.com/2009/05/beautiful-like-me.html

Please let me know if you find any other participants and I'll go back in and add their links here.

Again, if you'd like to join us, visit HERE to get started.