We usually think it’s our face or our body or our clothes that people find attractive. “How becoming that looks on you,” we want people to tell us.

But the greatest makeover you can ever do – the greatest cosmetic you can ever use – is to simply be YOU. There’s nothing wrong, of course, with wearing beautiful clothes or putting on beautiful make-up or making beautiful changes. But nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever suit you more or make you look better than just being your self. The trick is to find – and to BECOME – your true self.

We usually think of ourselves as having a fixed, set identity, with a fixed look and a fixed behavior. But forcing ourselves to fulfill that fixed image creates a lot of strain. Working hard to be the person we think we are or want to be (or want others to see) creates stress. And stress directly affects how we look. Stress eats away at our radiance. Being yourself brings out your natural radiance. You blossom.

So how to do it? Being yourself means simply being here, as you are, in this moment, moment by moment, not holding on to a fixed idea. The more you find yourself in this present moment – and the more you act accordingly, in response to the world as it actually is – the better you feel, the more self-confidence you have . . . and the better you look. The most becoming you is YOU.

Gareth Sirotnik
Author, consultant, Buddhist monk

For more about becoming you, visit Words Become You
Photo by Steven Lemay