#Beauty
TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY
They were silent when they reached the sea
with the birth of a new day…
some mornings ensure the quietude
when they take your breath away.
LOVE AND BEAUTY
She never thought she was beautiful…although she hoped to be…some day…
and then she met a person…who made her feel that way.
Who loves nothing more than to sit together and hold her hand in his.
Who tells her every day…how beautiful she is.
And her self doubt and uncertainty slowly faded away
as she started to feel beautiful…a little more…each day.
And the world around her became more beautiful…and everything seemed blessed
once love helped her discover the beauty she possessed.
As they sat together one day…he whispered in her ear
how everything in life is more beautiful…
more beautiful with her here.
And she thought how magical is love…
as she placed her hand in his…
for helping her discover
how beautiful she is.
Beaut-I-full
What is beauty?
The greatest harm I can cause myself?
Sand, then glue my fingertips
with plastic?
Unfeeling - unyielding
Let the bleach eat my hair?
Why is the pain of beauty
enough to bear?
Bitter metal rips the flesh
Look at the injury I can inflict
Why do I hate myself this much?
The stain of beauty is such.
Beautiful I must be
Must destroy natural me.
DO YOU KNOW HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE?
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” her grandma loved to say
“In fact”, she would continue, “you get more beautiful every day.”
“Grandma,” she said to her one day while feeling a little blue…
“You keep saying that I’m beautiful…but I don’t think it’s true.”
“I look in the mirror and try to see the beauty that you see…
But I don’t see a beautiful girl…all I see…is me.”
“Beauty is a funny thing,” her grandma said “you have to look at it differently…
because a person’s beauty…your true beauty…lies in what other people see.”
If you see the good in others you’ll be pleasantly surprised
They will say, I don’t know what its about her
but she has the most beautiful eyes.
If you speak kind words to others…in all your relationships
They will say, I don’t know what it is about her
but she has the most beautiful lips.
If you listen with respect and honesty
as people express their joys, their hopes, their fears…
They will say, I don’t know what it is about her
but she has the most beautiful ears.
If your touch is kind and gentle wherever it may land
They will say, I don’t know what it is about her
but she has the most beautiful hands.
If your smile makes others happy…even for a little while…
They will say, I don’t know what it is about her
but she has the most beautiful smile.
If you walk knowing you have friends and family who love you…
oh how everyone will talk
They will say, I don’t know what it is about her
but she has the most beautiful walk.
She was thinking of these words at her grandma’s funeral
when so many people came up to her to say…
I don’t know what it was about your grandma
but she got more beautiful every day.
THE SIMPLEST GESTURE
The new girl entered the classroom…
and though the students were informed
They could not help but stare at her…
her features were deformed.
Teacher gave her a big hug…
Come, let me show you to your seat.
“Class, this beautiful girls standing next to me
“I’d like you all to meet.”
“This is our new student Sally.” Teacher said,
as she led her down the aisle
and as Sally sat behind her desk…
she saw the other students smile.
Every classmate was smiling at her…
even those sitting in the back
Sally could not help herself…
she had to smile back.
Sally came up to teacher at the end of the day
“Thank you.” she said, “for not putting me on the spot.”
“For making me feel beautiful…
even though you know I’m not.”
“I saw your beauty when you entered my room.” Teacher said.
“Oh don’t look so surprised!”
“I knew that you were beautiful
when I looked into your eyes.”
“None of us are perfect.”……teacher smiled
“So don’t ever be misled
because you don’t have to be perfect…
to be beautiful.” she said.
That simple lesson long ago
has taken Sally far…
and she begins each day by telling her students
just how beautiful they are.
For she understands her students come to her
with their own struggles…their own strife
and how sometimes the simplest gesture
can change a person’s life.
THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE
On the other side of silence…enchanting sounds appear…
if you take the time to listen…if you take the time to hear.
Walk along a forest path…listen to the breeze.
Pause next to a field of flowers…listen to the humming of the bees.
Put your ear up to their crumbly trunks…listen to the trees.
As the snow falls on a wintry day…listen to it freeze.
Walk inside a cemetery…listen to the graves.
Stand along the shoreline…listen to the waves.
If you turn your head up to the heavens…then gently close your eyes…
you can listen to the clouds as they soar across the sky.
Listen to the stars at night…you can almost hear their dreams.
Linger on the riverbank…listen to the stream.
On the other side of silence…nature conducts her symphony.
On the other side of silence…she finds her harmony.
On the other side of silence…softly filling the air…
a myriad of wonders…
waiting for you there.
WHAT MAKES US BEAUTIFUL
Have you ever stopped in the forest…and looked up at the trees…
rising from the Earth…in divine simplicity?
“This tree is so beautiful…as is that one.” you exclaim.
“But what makes the forest beautiful is how no two trees are the same.”
Have you ever stopped under an ebony sky…and looked up at the stars…
the clouds…the constellations…Venus, Jupiter…or Mars?
“This star is so beautiful…as is that one.” you exclaim.
“But what makes the sky so beautiful is how no two stars are the same.”
Have you ever been walking in a garden and stopped to look around
at the individual flowers that populate the ground.
“This flower is so beautiful…as is that one.” you exclaim.
“But what makes the garden beautiful is how no two flowers are the same.”
Each tree, each star, each flower has it’s own beauty when detached…
but when they come together…their beauty is unmatched.
Perhaps nature is trying to show us…there is a reason why…
we should try to see all people like the trees, the flowers, the sky.
Perhaps if we paused a moment and used our eyes too see
we would notice all the people of Earth…in their divine simplicity.
“This person has a beauty all their own…as does that one.” we'd exclaim.
“But what makes the Earth so beautiful is how no two people are the same.”
NATURE'S BEAUTY SECRET
If a tree ever thought about beauty, (if you could imagine that!)
would it wonder if its bark is a little too wrinkled…
or if its leaves make its head look too fat?
Does the blue jay who comes to our feeder and sees the cardinal circling overhead
ever get jealous of the other birds beauty and wish it was not blue but red?”
Does the sunflower standing tall in the garden swaying as the summer breeze blows
inspect all the flowers around it and wish it looked more like the rose?
Does nature ever think about beauty…do the oceans, the rivers…the stars
or are humans the only creatures on Earth…who wonder how beautiful we are?
Perhaps if we were more like nature…we would, like nature, be aware
not of our ephemeral beauty…but the beauty that’s already there.
The beauty that needs no mirrors, the beauty that nature extols…
The beauty that dwells in our hearts…
The beauty that exists in our souls.
Perhaps if we saw beauty like nature…perhaps then we’d be truly blessed…
for finding the beauty in others…would uncover the beauty we already possess.
And we would take our place in nature…next to the oceans the rivers and the stars
And we would never again have to give any thought…
or wonder…how beautiful we are.
WHERE DOES BEAUTY GO?
“Honey!” he said carrying an old album, “let’s go back and remember when…”
She gasped to herself as he opened it, “I was so much younger then.
“Look how beautiful I used to be…and I’d sure like to know”
“As I’ve gotten older…where did my beauty go?”
“Oh I beg differ.” He smiled. “For this beauty you’re talking about
has never shown from outward in…it flows from inward out.”
“The same beauty I see in these old photos, still fills my heart with sighs…
It radiates from your heart…your soul…it’s reflected in your eyes.”
“What makes you beautiful today is something time cannot destroy…
It’s how you live each moment…It’s the way you fill your life with joy. “
“I think beauty is like the seasons and it’s not until we’re fully grown
that we realize each season of life…has a beauty all it’s own.”
“It’s true you’re not as beautiful as in this photograph array…
that would be impossible…because you become more beautiful every day.”
“So as we turn these pages…as we stop along the way…
Remember you were only younger then…you‘re much more beautiful today.”