Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

by Rita Davidson

It is interesting how we view ourselves sometimes. For me my face represents who I am to most of you. I’m on social media every day, posting video’s, giving my opinion, hoping to inspire and posting my daily outfit pics to inspire women to be beautyful and modest.

So when my Bells Palsy hit… it was kind of interesting to me the thoughts running through my head. I take really good care of my skin (as a former Cosmetologist) and often get complimented how nice my skin is. I’ll be 49 this year (Yes I forgot myself and gave myself a jolt when I remembered. LOL ) but I appreciate aging gracefully.

So when my face began to drop and go mis-shapen… I was asking myself, what do I think of this? Am I worried what I look like? (it aint pretty!) After having suffered a TIA Stroke at age 26 my concern was to confirm this wasn’t a stroke. So when the doctor confirmed that for me I was this big SMILE on one side for him. Wow I thought. I am so blessed!

That really got me thinking…so many of us are so tied to how we look. I mean not being able to go out the door without make up. Or feeling self-conscious about ourselves and wearing black all the time to ‘hide’ from who we ‘think’ we are.

How many of us are only pretending to be comfortable in our own skin? You know it’s easy for us to pick out what someone else is doing wrong in their life,

“Oh she wears too much make up?”

“Oh look how short her skirt is.” or “that is a very vain thing to do.”

But we are blinded to what we do to hide who we truly are? oh if we could only see ourselves how God sees us…

So let’s look at this Bells Palsy face

This pic is when it was at it’s worst…I thought…it look about 3 days to really get as bad as it’s gonna get on one side.

I remember fondly looking at my older pictures I’ve posted wondering…will I ever get that face back? Then I realized – I’m not really that worried.

I passed the test…

(I ironically felt like Galadriel, in The Lord of the Rings, for a quick moment… LOL )

But I realized as much as I like to look good, and dress the best I can for myself and my family, I’m not so attached to my face that I can’t live with it now. That is why I’m sharing it with you now. This is really me. The redness, the blochiness and that crooked smile. So interesting to me how this became so personal a ‘test’ to me.

The face of Bells Palsy – being my regular, honest self, this is me trying to smile. When one side of your face cooperates the other side sits unflinching at what your trying to achieve. This includes slurping trying to drink, and tearing with your unclosed, unblinking eye. If a fit if laughter hits you, you’ll be sure your face will appear contorted as only one side feels the laughter. Many thoughts have been streaming through my head since this happened … some of it quite funny, right now I’m in a more somber mood I guess. It’s been another difficult day. Now that I’m on the mend I’ve been fighting for my mothers care plan again, getting disappointing news about our house repair work being delayed and really trying to be hopeful.

Please pray for me my friends… as I’m still battling getting on my feet, still in pain but life never stops. And I figured you may as well as see my face as it’s the only one I got and I don’t hide behind masks! No make up, skin blotches, bad hair day, trying to smile. Need to find some strength and discernment today. happy Feast of Our Lady..

As Catholics we know it’s what in our soul that counts…but that doesn’t mean we can neglect the shell that covers our soul either. So while I won’t hide my head in shame…while I have it, I will do all I can within my reason, to recover my health and my face as the representative of God in my life.

This shell is the body God gave me to house the eternal soul He blessed me with. It is my duty to care for it and help it to look as good as it can look for His glory. That is what I hope to do.

Are you hiding ? Are you wearing a false mask that makes you feel like someone your not?

Post your insights below…I’d be interested to hear them.

Here’s hoping I can smile for you again soon. 🙂

With much love,

Rita xxo

Rita is a Catholic wife, and mother of seven, with three autistic boys. Author, of “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) and speaker, she has a PASSION for making #realcatholicmodesty understood. She is a licensed Hairdresser, and Make Up Pro, Certified Christian Image Stylist. With a degree in Natural Health she enjoys essential oils & Jamberry Nail Wraps. She enjoys making people smile and sharing God’s love with anyone who will listen. After overcoming a stroke, disabilities, they lost everything in a devastating house fire that made them homeless for six months. She is determined to lead souls back to Christ by finding the #realcatholicbeauty in their lives by carrying their cross with JOY!

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

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