True Beauty

I'm writing this for my daughter and for my sons and as I'm writing this I'm wishing I was much more eloquent in my writing than I am.  I wish I could make the words take life so you can understand what it is I feel in my heart about this subject.

I'm a vain person.  I'll be one of the first people to admit this about myself.  I always have been vain and I've always been extremely worried about my looks.  As I've grown older and struggled with the changes in my looks, I've done a lot of contemplating about how much emphasis I need to place on my looks.  Do I spend 2 or more hours a day working out to keep up the beauty or do I limit myself to a set amount of time and call it good?  Do my kids care if I'm the most attractive mom out there or is there something to love about me giving it up for them?  These are the questions I think a lot about and I try to find balance in my life. 

The other day I was sitting in the Women's general conference session and I was listening to the talks that were being given.  As I sat there listening, in front of me sat one of my sweet friends with 3 of her 4 daughters.  Her youngest daughter, 8 and still very petite, was sitting on her lap hugging her mom.  It was such a beautiful sight it brought tears to my eyes and I thought to myself, "Karina is beautiful.  She is beautiful because of the mother she is to those girls.  That is true beauty.  That is beautiful."  In that moment seeing my friend, I had an idea of what true beauty is.  It isn't about looking like Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Lopez, or Courtney Cox.  It isn't about being the skinniest or having the shiniest hair.  It isn't about wearing the most expensive clothes.  That child didn't care one iota about how her mother looked on the outside.  To her, she is beautiful.  To her, she is a safe person she can hold onto in this crazy world of ours.  Beauty isn't anything about what is on the outside.  It all has to do with what is on the inside and what we give to other people.  Kindness and Charity are what truly make a person beautiful regardless of how they appear to others on the outside.