Happiness Blog August 5, 2019

With summer in full swing here in Japan, it can be difficult to feel good. One aspect of feeling good is embracing the beauty within you. In the heat of summer, this can be especially challenging. To help beat the heat and embrace your inner beauty, have a day of beauty that celebrates your inner beauty as well as your physical beauty. Celebrating your body and outer beauty is important, regardless of gender, and by celebrating our body we give thanks for the vessel that contains our inner beauty. To have a day of celebrating your body, go get a facial or go to a beauty salon and get a professional shave or shampoo and deep conditioning. Get a manicure, pedicure, or massage—whatever will make you feel more beautiful and celebrate your body. These things are refreshing, regardless of gender, and remind us that we are deserving of being spoiled every now and then. They also send a clear message of self-appreciation.

If a trip to the salon or a home spa day is not your cup of tea, there are other ways to remind yourself of your beauty, such as focusing on the beauty within yourself. Everyone has beauty within them. For some people, it is artistry or creativity. Creativity comes in a lot of forms. For some people, it is creativity in music or poetry. For others, it is creativity in game play. Any form of problem solving is a form of creativity, and if you have ever played a game or solved a problem, you are creative. Before doubting this, reflect and ask yourself: why not embrace that you are creative? Seek out your own creativity.

Another important aspect of self-appreciation and recognizing the beauty within is to recognize what you do well. It can be something as simple as the way you write the letter “L” or as complex as the way you manage your personal relationships. The important thing is to recognize the beauty within you. Recognizing what you do well allows you to focus on the goodness and beauty inside of you. It also facilitates your ability to have a day of beauty and broadens what that means. A day of beauty does not need to be a day of traditional pampering. It can be a day of recognizing and celebrating the beauty within you by engaging in activities that bring out your inner beauty.

Posted on Monday: 05 August, 2019