Defining Beauty

MORE Magazine recently posed a question to its readers in a beauty search opinion poll:  "What makes YOU beautiful inside and out?"  Culture tends to define internal and external beauty in terms of youthful good looks, stylish attire, high-powered successful vocations and a dynamic social life.  With this consideration in mind, I guess that would make me the antithesis of our current cultural concept of beauty.  I am a vintage 50-something woman who embraces my gray hair and is satisfied rather than concerned about erasing the years.  I crave an uncomplicated life, measuring my success by the happiness of my marriage, the love of my family, the adoration of my grandson, the joy of simply being a wife, mother, grandmother and child of God.  I want to be known as authentic, devoted, inspiring civility.  The struggle for eternal youth is a losing battle, so I endeavor to channel my energy into something more constructive - and I aspire that my aging beauty be something that my daughters actually look forward to themselves one day...after all, a classic design is age-proof and chic.