What Makes A Woman Truly Beautiful

What is true beauty? What makes a woman truly beautiful?

I have exhausted my self lately on my personal quest of finding what true beauty is and what makes up a beautiful woman. I collected images of different women of all ages, races, colors and shapes... I read articles about remarkable women of our times, memoirs of ordinary women who lived extra-ordinary lives, watched movies about powerful women of my generation, captivated by the most loved and most hated women on TV and entertainment, and even consumed myself of beauty quotes that I would regularly post on my Facebook wall every now and then.... Most of the time, I found myself intoxicated with wisdom that profoundly brought clarity to me about the world and myself as a woman... 

MY PERSONAL AHA! MOMENT:

A woman's true beauty  is an experience that I invite to my life, that I feel within me, that I learn from others, that I empower my self with, that I enjoy to share, that strengthens me and everyone around me...

A TRULY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IS...

A mother who fights with all her strength beside her son who's battling leukemia.

A young mother who shines when she takes her baby to experience life's great adventures before he can even walk.  

A girl who behaves in public with grace and good manners saying 'thank-you', 'sorry',  and  'please', controls her lingo, and builds healthy relationships with her family members, friends, and colleagues.

A woman who loves her self and carries her self with confidence, whose heart-warming smiles brightens the day of every body whom she talks to, and not letting anything or anybody steal her joy.  

A single mother who listens to her daughter's pains, dreams and desires in life, who makes her feel loved, valued, important and assure her how beautiful she is.
 

Someone who lets nobody stop her from being great, for making a difference in the world, who loves what she does even if some people ridicule her passions, who inspires other women to embrace her talents and uniqueness, who brings honor to our country, who brings peace to the troubled and laughter to the lonely....

She doesn't even have to be a human... She could be a short furry four-legged beauty who would lick the tears off my face... 

I was floored when I found this quote that describes the most beautiful people...

Beauty is not something that we can buy or wear or can or can't afford to show off. It's not something that we inject on our face and body, either. So, let's not get caught up in our appearances when we look at our selves in the mirror to judge our own beauty. It's not someone else's job to tell us if we are beautiful or not. Being beautiful inside and out is a daily decision that we affirm to ourselves. 

So... I Think I'm Crazy To Think I Can Change The World

"What did I do to my self?"

I uttered these words after watching the movie "Evan Almighty" last weekend. This was Steve Carrell's movie years ago and I caught this scene where he was kneeling by his bedside, and he was awkwardly praying to God to help him change the world.

I remember I also prayed awkwardly to God to show me how I can change the world, starting in me... I prayed for Him to make me grateful, faithful, trusting, giving, loving, forgiving, to love myself more and to live an abundant and amazing life so I can inspire others... Then, I thought "what the heck I am thinking? Well, you are God and you put this crazy thought in my head".... And my life went on and I was very conscious ever since of what could possibly happen. Am I gonna be on TV, am I gonna be a big celebrity, am I gonna be in Dancing with the Stars.... How I wish! I went to work, read my usual books, went out with my friends, eat, relax, enjoy with my husband, watch funny movies, clean my house... Nothing too significant changed and I got a little frustrated and sometimes bored. In my mind, I was waiting for a big chance or opportunity where I would say... "This is it. I better keep my ducks in a row now, because I am just about to breakthough and change the world!" I can't wait to blog about it andtell you how amazing it was to be able to do that....

There was a scene in this "Evan Almighty" movie that struck me like a lightning, and it was when GOD (played by Morgan Freeman) said: 

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

I never swear in my life, but I swear God spoke to me in that movie. For the entire week, I've been trying to digest this quote like I would digest a big slab of steak cooked to my well-done perfection (I'm hungry while writing this)... as it has given me hope and encouragement to embrace all these opportunities that are about to come to me so I can be "the change I want to see in the world"....

Crazily I thought, and humbly I felt... and surely I can testify that I had those opportunities come to me in my life, not just lately since I blogged about it, but for many years ago, since I can remember. I am grateful through times that I had plenty and times that I had none... I am faithful when I looked fear and doubt in the eye and cast it out of my sight, and trusted God at moments when I have given up on something I can not control (coz I'm such a control freak sometimes)... I am giving understanding and encouragement to others when that's all I can give... I am loving and caring for others by learning from them, appreciating them, seeing the good in them and overlooking their bad attitudes and terrible choices in life... I am forgiving myself and freeing myself of shame and guilt... I am loving myself by celebrating my uniqueness, appreciating my own body when I feel like criticising me because of my flaws... I think of my family and friends that I have helped and supported. I read the messages that I have sent to my loved ones or posted on my Facebook where I was encouraging them and sharing to them what I'm so passionate about. When I am lacking, I declare that God is providing me everything I need and I claim His plans to prosper me.  I inspire others by embracing my inner beauty through self-love, gratitude, positive thinking, wisdom and humility. I have shared great moments with my friends and loved ones through my comedy (I'm fabulously silly around my friends. I just love making others smile!). Those were the times that I do strongly feel that I truly live an abundant and amazing life.... just like what I prayed about.

So, I'm still going to change the world, and now, what?

What if I can be so stinkin' courageous and focus on loving myself so happily that the devil won't know what to do with me anymore? I personally feel very strongly passionate that this journey will be nothing but A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  So, help me, God!

(PS: I refer "devil" to fear, doubt, worry, negative thoughts and influences, bad habits, insecurity, pride, selfishness, materialism, procrastination, trash, fat... etc.)

For the fun of it, here's the movie trailer of Evan Almighty. Whether you are inspired to change the world or build a boat, or simply finding your purpose in life, this religious comedy can enlighten you.

"Change" To Start In Me

One major aspect of this new challenge for me is to begin the change within me. Recently, I dared to define what true beauty means to me. So, I wrote it down, shared my Beauty Manifesto videos in Youtube, in my blogs and even created a Facebook fan page about it.  I realized after that project, I did not only define what true beauty means for me and but I also embraced the challenge of being the change I want to see in the world.

I felt an instant gratification for myself on that daring process, as it was the most liberating first step in living the change I want to see in the world. All my self-image consciousness, insecurity and judgment were washed down the drain. I have empowered myself to direct my life on my own terms, and not to be trapped on what others say I should live my life or how I should look. Living in a culture where negative self-criticism, self-hate and self-defeating opinions were encouraged as a norm in the media and our society, this is not the easiest process for me to turn it around. This first step alone takes courage, self-love and self-belief to fight the obvious.

As a result of this, I had clarity of who I am and what I want to be.... I no longer worry about others' opinion of me as it does not matter to me anymore. A few times now, I was able to express that "I don't really care now what people think or say of me"... and it really is amazing to say that. 

I hope to inspire you to have that autonomy and control of your own life and you will find your self to be much more powerful than what others think. You won't let other people's remarks influence you or make you embark on the journey of self doubt, just like what this song says...

So... I Think I Can Change The World

My new life purpose isn't only alive and breathing, but well communicated in my past job interviews and documented in my career blogs. At first, I did kind of felt weird and crazy, but as I went on following my intuition and passion... I instantly recognized that inside of me, there's this inspired energy that naturally comes out of me and made me glow when I was triggered by character questions like, "Why am I different?" or "What makes me stand out from the rest?" Being self-assured of who I am and confident to know what my true passion and life purpose is, this cliche made me open up the vulnerable side of me. Just being able to express my mind is the most liberating thing in the world.

After acquiring several habits over the years that strengthened my values and character and protected my thoughts and belief system, I've come to a decision that I can truly be in charge of my destiny. Without hesitation, I seriously dared to think I can change the world.... Then, I started to see things differently. I desired to think and do things differently. I no longer want to be average. I'm no longer fond of rules that will limit me. I no longer care if people will agree or disagree with me. I was constantly connecting the dots, and I have to keep looking... I should not stop. I can't be ignored.... This is in my mind every day. I feel it in every level of my being and emotion... No one can ever take this away from me.

One day this week, I had this overwhelming feeling and I was talking myself out of this craziness in my head. Am I ok? What is going on with my brain, so on and so forth.... So, in the essence of me un-thinking my thoughts and insulting my intuitive nature, I googled and typed the phrase "crazy thinking differently" (as that was my strong feeling of myself that moment).... To my surprise, I did not expect to see this video to be first in the list.


I'm no Steve Jobs, but he inspired me to remain foolish... to keep thinking what I'm thinking differently. So... I think I can change the world. That is my intention and opportunities come to me to make this into reality.