31 Days - Jaded Beauty

Today's topic: Has the world's definition of beauty ever jaded you?

First I had to look up the definition of jaded. I'm pretty sure I know what it means but I would be really embarrassed if I wrote a whole blog about a word that I completely misunderstood.


Jaded: Made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience or by surfeit. 


Then I had to look up surfeit - hoping I would understand all the words in that definition so I can get started, otherwise this blog could turn into a list of definitions and that would be more embarrassing than writing a blog about a word I misunderstood. I can already tell that this blog is going to be rough either way! If you're still reading, I commend you for your patience.  


Surfeit: 1. An overabundant supply; 2. Disgust caused by excess


I know what all those words mean! Whew! Okay I think I have a grasp on the question now. 


I don't have a good understanding of what the world's definition of beauty is on a whole, but I can use my experience of the standard of beauty held in my surroundings. 


So in that case yes, I have been jaded by the world's definition of beauty. I think mostly because there is no way of attaining it. When you strive to be beautiful by the world's standards, you're chasing a goal that changes by the second. New trends happen all the time. What was cool yesterday may not be so cool today. By the time I think something is cute, it's already out of style (dang-it). That's why when my fashion forward little sister gives me her old clothes, I wonder why she doesn't want them anymore because to me they are so cute and so "in". The fact is, she's already on to the next trend and I'm just now discovering the old one. 


It's difficult and exhausting to hold yourself to a standard that is ever-changing and extremely fickle. You will be disappointed. And after so much disappointment, or a surfeit of disappointment (I was hoping I could fit that word in somewhere) you will inevitably become jaded. We can only take so much! 


I still chase after those trends. I love a good pair of heels and I can't go too long in between highlights! And while I may be behind on most trends, my sister keeps me in check so I don't fall too far behind. But my worth is not defined by the latest trend or the world's standard of beauty. Been there done that and you can get yourself into a dangerous pit that way. You will find yourself compromising more and more to achieve that unattainable worldly standard until one day you look up and wonder how you got in so deep. That is the very thing that God in His perfect love is trying to protect us from when he warns us of the danger of sin. 


When we start to feel jaded, we need to check our spirit on the situation. Have we given too much worth to something that is not that worthy? I have many times! But here's the good part that I love: God will never leave us feeling jaded. He is so worthy. If we trust Him wholeheartedly He will never disappoint us. In the ever-changing world that we live in, I can use something constant like that.