"Beauty: A Personal Definition"

My husband says things to me quite frequently, in a joking manner, about women my age, in association with fading beauty. He never lets an opportunity go by, when he is given the chance, to remind me that I am not so young anymore.

He would certainly say, if you asked, that he is only teasing me, and maybe he is, but he has that sense of humor which contains enough truth to sting a bit at times.

There is a large part of me that wants to be deeply offended and another part that has to admit it is the simple truth. I am getting older.

I have read studies that show my husband is not alone in his thinking. Most men see youth as beauty. I don't necessarily need the reminders, however, and I don't feel like any woman wants to be made to feel that she is basically at a point in her life when she is no longer attractive.

Does knowing this bother me? Yes, but not just on a personal level. It bothers me because I think that beauty is so much more. I think beauty lives in a persons heart and is reflected in their eyes when they smile. I find beauty in almost all people.

I believe that a few things can keep beauty from a person, some of which are; bitterness, cold heartedness, conceit, unkind words spoken about others, and an overall mean spirit.

One of my favorite quotes is by a man named Henry Miller. He said "Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself."

To me any person leading their life in that manner would have a pretty good shot at being beautiful. I find beauty in many different forms.

Beauty to me is seen in a person when they are passionate about life. It can be found in people who show kindness to others . I see it in the eyes of elderly couples that are still in love after years and years of being together who have a connection so deep they truly are one.

I feel like beauty can also be found in great wisdom and moral character. Beauty to me is a simple kindness of the soul.

There are plenty of people in the world that meet the standards of beauty that society has put in place over the years, and I like everyone else can see that type of attractiveness. I just don't think that appearance should be the only factor in determining what constitutes true beauty.

I personally believe that real beauty is so much deeper than that.

I am sure that some people are reading this and thinking she is just saying she feels this way because she is getting older herself, but I have always felt the way that I do about what is attractive in others, even when I was very young.

I have never considered myself to be a physically beautiful woman so age is not really a factor for me in how I feel about beauty now.

My grandmother had a simple saying "pretty is as pretty does." I love this statement because I wholeheartedly agree with it. I realize my way of thinking is not probably the most common, and I know that most of the world will continue to see beauty just as society defines it for them.

For those people, I feel a bit of remorse in that... they will never experience true beauty in all of its many facets.....The kind that is seen when you least expect it....and subsequently the moments that take their breath away will be far to rare..