The Beauty from which we thought we knew

So if you couldn't tell from the title, this is going to be about beauty. Why you may ask? Well, because this has been a topic that has been placed before me these last couple of weeks and I thought why not write a blog about it. Here it goes.

It all started when I started reading the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. Honestly, I loved reading this book and it helped me uncover items in my own life. It helped me on my journey of discovering that I am truly lovely and do not need to have others tell me that this is true. This has taken me a long time to discover, but am happy to say that I do believe this is true.

Now the next area of beauty that came into my life is from the aspect of the youth that I helped with last winter. I still talk to all of these girls, I just don't lead them anymore in a group. Well, one of the girls is dealing with some weight and issue of feeling beautiful. Her Aunt who I work with at church was telling me about this. It honestly broke my heart that other girls were picking on her and that it even drove her away from playing volleyball, which she was a good player. It just angers me that these girls feel as if they have a right to judge what is beauty and what people should look like.

So, right here, right now, I will try to define what I believe is beauty.
First I will look at the dictionary definition.

Beauty means

1. the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness
2. a particularly graceful, ornamental, or excellent quality

I agree that beauty does represent loveliness and thinks that beauty does contain an element of grace, but this definition does not really define beauty.

So what does beauty really entail?
I believe that one cannot truly define or describe what beauty is. The best way to really know what beauty is is to experience it. For example, have you ever stood near any body of water and watched the sun rise or set over the water? The colors are vibrant and you cannot tell what all the colors are. You feel warm rays and the gentle breeze gracefully touching your face. A sense of freedom comes over you and you wish you could capture and hold this feeling forever.

That is what I believe the definition of beauty is. It is what you believe it is. It is the silence that you hear when talking a walk in the woods; the gentle whisper of the wind; the painted sky above us; the laughter of our family or friends; the tear that falls from our face; the small smile that graces our face; the curve of our hips; and the depth of our souls.

Beauty should never be defined by words and even though I tried to give my best definition above, those do not even come close to what beauty is.

Beauty is not defined by those young girls picking on the girl who was in my group. No, they do not even know what beauty is quite yet. For once you start to understand beauty, you start seeing it all around you.