by Kim AdesAugust 3, 2017

 
 
A couple of weeks ago, my husband Allan and I treated ourselves to a short, 4-day cruise. At our first port, I was stopped in front of what appeared to be a cosmetics store and a woman who was working there asked me what I use to take care of my skin.

Initially, I thought I was getting a compliment and was thrilled that I was doing something right with my face. The woman said that I had beautiful skin. Then she asked me to lift my sunglasses and asked what I use under my eyes.

“Just moisturizer,” I stated proudly.

Then it came like a blow to the belly.

“Shame on you,” she exclaimed. “That’s why you have dark puffy circles and wrinkles under your eyes.”

Holy smokes! I have dark puffy circles and wrinkles under my eyes?! When did that happen? How come no one ever mentioned them before? And… how come I never really noticed?

She pulled me into her shop to give me a demonstration. She chose my “worst eye” to work with and dabbed some 24-carat gold-infused gel under my eyes to prove to me how miraculously my dark puffy circles and wrinkles would disappear if I only purchased her $700 product that she was doing me a favour by selling to me for only $200 that day.

My eyes started to sting, and to be completely honest, as I looked in the mirror, I suddenly became horrified with the dark puffy circles and wrinkles under my eyes.

I looked tired and worn down. And old.

After I refused to purchase the gold-infused gel that would last me a minimum of 2 years, I was told that I was being very negative and that I had to look at the world with a more positive perspective.

Really? What the heck just happened?! How in the world did I get branded as negative?

I walked away frustrated and discouraged. How did a beautiful, bright, sunny day suddenly turn so grim and depressing? More importantly, how did this woman manage to diminish my confidence in less than 10 minutes?

Then Allan turned to me and said, “What’s wrong with wrinkles and dark circles? I love your wrinkles and dark circles – they are a symbol of the rich lives we live. I am not so sure why everyone works so hard to eliminate their well earned wrinkles. I think it’s kinda dumb.”

And with that, I stopped worrying about my eyes and reached over and gave him a kiss.

The way you think about ANYTHING will determine how you feel about it. If you think you look tired, worn down and old, then you will feel tired, worn down and old. But if you think you look great for your age, beautiful and radiant, then that’s exactly how you’ll feel.

The choice is yours.

Unfortunately, making the choice to feel beautiful doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Our thinking gets in our way. Ultimately, in fact, our thinking determines the quality of our lives. I invite you to assess how your thinking is affecting the quality of your life by clicking here.