Beauty

When I wake up to my mirror image every morning,I look at myself and I wonder why have I not been blessed with the good looks of a model?And then I check out my Facebook news feed which further increases the intensity of my insufficient feeling with regard to my appearance when I check out posts by all my friends.And then I go into the kitchen to do my usual morning household chores with a glum face,wondering what I can do to increase my position in the hierarchy of good looks.Then when I leave the house I hear long lectures from my neighbors on 'tips to enhance your appearance',they go on for hours about how the current generation people spend a lot of time in the beauty parlor and the amount of effort they are taking to look good and to be noticed and they ask me questions like,'how do people even talk to you?I don't think any person who has a clear vision would be able to stand your appearance' ,and they further go on and on about the amount of effort their children and grandchildren are taking to keep themselves fit by going to the gym and by practicing yoga every day and how I should meet them and learn to be like them.Even though I try to brush them off with a fake smile and a claim that 'I don't care about the way I look,I am happy with the person I am',their faces wrinkle with a frown and they are all like,'how can you ever be happy?no man in this entire world will ever think about marrying a girl like you' and I just walk away in irritation.Those words passed through my heart like a dagger,I have tears trickling down my eyes,I am my worst enemy at the moment.Then I go to college and I hear nasty comments about my fashion sense,my looks and the same big lectures I heard from those annoying neighbors of mine,except this time it is about 'reasons why I still don't have a boyfriend'.Then finally one of my friends walks into me and says,'Hey you look very pretty today!',that one statement throws away all the negative emotions that had been piled up earlier during the day and I give a sheepish smile and say 'thank you',this time it is a real smile and not a fake smile.How could she think that I look beautiful?look at all the other girls,they all have plucked eyebrows,straightened and streaked hair, an elaborately done facial,pierced nose and ears and a slim body stature, while I have never in my life been to a beauty parlor,a yoga center or a gym and I am wearing an ultra loose old fashioned tee to hide my bulky appearance.Then my group of close friends compliment me on how beautiful I look all the time and induce me into a 'euphoric' state.Then I go back home with a smile and my parents,grandparents and siblings flood me with questions like 'how I always manage to look good and where I get such amazing clothes from?' and I go to bed with a smile thinking about all the praise I received with regard to my appearance.At the end of the day,I have realized that beauty is something that lies in the eyes of the beholder,each person has his/her own subjective definition of beauty.Earlier during the day,thoughts about how and when I should go to the beauty parlor was running through my mind and now I realized that it would be indeed foolish of me to spend thousands on something very unnecessary and temporary.I am indeed proud that I didn't have to spend thousands for people to talk to me and appreciate me.I feel blessed to know people who look at me beyond my physical appearance and who realize that there is much more to a person than just their physical appearance.Speaking of marriage,I would rather not get married at all than marry someone who doesn't know me beyond my physical appearance.Therefore,physical appearance is an extremely subjective and temporary phenomenon and not something worth spending a lot of time and effort on.