What is Beauty?

Yesterday's post brought in a lot of really good feedback, some positive, and some REALLY negative. My first reaction was the urge to fire back, then my second was to ignore it and TRY not let it bother me, and my third reaction was to let it inspire me to write this post. I have a really hard time holding things in. Talking about it and getting the chance to explain myself, makes me feel sooo much better. Maybe this is a bad thing, but I don't care, I'm going to do it anyway.
So, due to this really mean comment someone left me yesterday I've chosen to not allow anonymous comments anymore. I don't need mean people leaving me comments who don't even have the guts to reveal who they are.
First of all, I'm really sorry if I offended anyone by talking about horoscopes and patriarchal blessings as if they were equally the same. I was simply trying to relate to the masses. Not everyone is LDS and not everyone even knows what a patriarchal blessing is, so I was just trying to find things that people could relate to as far as what they choose to believe.
And now for my real purpose for this post. The comment that inspired this was "why did people laugh when you said you wanted to go on a mission? Please don't say something like, they thought I was too pretty".
Hah! Well, ya know what? That was not the reason AT ALL.
If people weren't so quick to judge then maybe they'd learn a little something.  Without going into too much detail, all I have to say is,  you NEVER know what people have been through. Coming from a broken home, and moving every 6 months didn't exactly give me any kind of stability a child needs. I was always changing schools in the middle of the school year, which of course put a lot of stress on me, trying to make friends, getting comfortable in my new area and  adjusting to the new school program. I always felt behind in everything, while the rest of the class seemed to be doing fine. I began to think that I wasn't very smart, and my grades made me believe I would never amount to much.
Of course I'm grateful for these experiences now because I can see how it's made me stronger as a person. It took a long time for me to believe that I wasn't stupid. So with this bad self image brought a lot of bad life choices. Most everyone in my family dropped out of high school, got into drugs or alcohol, never went to college... it was all I knew. I believed that I wasn't anything special and that I probably would never do anything great in my life. So serving a mission was the last thing people would have expected me to do, and it was the last thing I ever thought to do.
 After all these years of feeling this way about myself, suddenly a light turned on! I was starting to realize my true potential, and I didn't have to settle for less. I COULD be amazing, I started to BELIEVE that I could do ANYTHING I wanted! Learning the truth about myself literally SET ME FREE from the bondage of self doubt.
Here is a picture of me on my mission with my natural hair color, no tan, glasses, and about 20 pounds heavier. I wasn't anything too exciting to look at. And who ever said that "pretty" people don't serve missions anyway? Each and every one of my mission companions were GORGEOUS! They didn't choose to go on a mission because they couldn't get married. They chose to go because they simply wanted to make a difference in someone's life.

I don't think I'm any prettier than the average person. Anyone can wear make up, hair extensions, false eyelashes, body shapers to look thinner, get braces on their teeth and bleach them to make them white, color their hair, and take a good picture.
What is beauty? Well, we all know that true beauty comes from within. I don't think there is anything wrong with enhancing the way you look in some ways. The bad thing is when you think your looks are ALL you have.
I've learned that there is more to life than LOOKS. I love to share tips on hair, skin, and weight loss. It's fun and it makes us women feel good to pamper ourselves and to FEEL pretty, but it's only one small part of life. I also share my thoughts and life experiences that don't have anything to do with beauty. It's all about balance, and not getting too obsessed with any one thing.
Anyway, I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Thank you all for listening :)