With the seasonal change I pulled some of my purses out of storage to discover some of them are not in good condition with tears and cracks and some of the non-leather styles are even peeling. I decided to see if I can find some bargains on a new purse.

I was in a popular retail store looking for my new handbag when I saw this woman who had a radiant glow. Her hair was in its all natural afro texture braided into an updo style. She looked to be in her fifties. Her skin was a honey almond complexion with freckles on her cheekbones. Her large eyes were captivating. I thought she was absolutely beautiful. She started talking to me about the selection in the store not being so great. I agreed with her.

Then I couldn’t help but say, “You’re so pretty.” She instantly stopped looking at the shelves in the store and looked at me as if I was crazy. She said, “What?”  I repeated myself, “You’re so pretty…. Beautiful.”  Again she looked at me as if I had said the most ridiculous thing. Her response was, “Well….I know I’m not UGLY UGLY….but I’m not pretty either.”  I said, “No! You shouldn’t think that about yourself.” She said, “Well look at YOU. You’re all tall and very attractive. Not me.” I shook my head and said, “Why do so many women refuse to accept complements? Why do so many of us not see we are beautiful?”
She stopped and then said, “Ok…thank you…but I still don’t…see it.”

I wanted to share this story today because so many women are not willing to look at and embrace their own individual beauty. We’ve come to accept only certain ideals set forth by marketing and media. So when you think you don’t fit into that mold, the instinct is to not see yourself as beautiful.

Most of us have heard the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  My take on that is this: If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then you have to be the number 1 beholder of your own beauty. Because if you don’t see it, chances are others won’t either. You have to be the vessel in sharing your own beauty from the inside out.

Remember that beauty begins with you. It starts with embracing and acknowledging that you are in fact beautiful.