Complacency at its Best

com-pla-cen-cy

noun:

1. A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.

2. An instance of contented self-satisfaction

(thanks YahooEducation)

So I guess I have a desire to be complacent at the moment. I go through many stages of want and need and then I get lucky and it hits: complacency with what I have been given.

Outwardly, I have been doing way too much of all the things that I am normally not into:

tanning

working out to the wax

using hair mask

keeping my toenails painted

just a few examples. Although I am a girly-girl at heart, I have been known in the past to boycott face serum because of two reasons: (1) living in the sunny south, fighting wrinkles is useless and (2) the word "serum" kind of weirds me out. I didn't even know what "hair mask" was until I decided I was going to go on this latest beauty kick. I have always prided myself on being the low-maintenance girl who can throw something on and head out the door in 5 minutes flat. I can still do this (and do it often), but it's the "behind the scenes" stuff that is starting to get tedious. And starting to get old.

I have a few theories about this sudden change of beauty attitude. The most prominent theory - I'm single.

In other words, I am always wandering what I'll look like when Mr. Wonderful runs into me. You know how it happens in romantic comedies. I don't want to be the girl who runs into Mr. Wonderful and is all disheveled with crooked glasses and my hair up in a scrunchie (for the record: I haven't owned a scrunchie since 1999, but with my luck a neon green one would mysteriously find its way into my hair immediately before meeting said Mr. Wonderful). And we would inevitably run into each other physically - I'll be carrying some heavy load and we will fall in love instantly while bent down picking up my books or groceries or whatever I'm carrying. So now I have to make sure I smell divine at all times as well... You see where I'm going with this.

Okay, maybe I have an active imagination, but the bottom line is no matter where I am and no matter who I am seeing that day, it is becoming increasingly important to me to look my absolute best. You truly never know who you are going to run into - Maybe the great guy I went on a date with last week. He'll think "Oh there's that great girl who made such a good first impression... wait, is that a scrunchie? Is her skin normally that ashy? But she looked so GOOD on our date!" Yikes.

Granted, he might not think that, and people most likely don't notice this stuff, but I would know that it was happening and frankly, I would rather feel 100% amazing and fabulous, ready for all encounters that may come my way.

However... it is exhausting. So while I was exfoliating my entire body (for the 3rd time this week), I had a thought. If I worked this hard on my inner self, would that overtake any glamorous look I have going on that day? I think it would make a bigger difference to the people that I know and am meeting if I exuded more inner confidence. I think the tan and the soft skin would be deeply overshadowed by a genuine smile, because I know I am in an amazing place as a person and as a Christian, not a smile that says "My hair is the perfect texture this morning, so I feel better about myself." No, I'll take the genuine smile instead.

Something is wrong with the picture when I spend more time beautifying myself than I do in beautifying my soul with prayer. So here's the deal. Today I choose to be complacent with my appearance and I vow to spend more time working on myself and cultivating myself as a person than I spend in a beauty routine. And no, I am not giving up on beauty. I do have limits - I am not going to turn into Zoolander's "Derelict", but if my toenails aren't painted, I am not wasting another second thinking how atrocious it must look.

Who knows? Maybe the disheveled look is in. There is, after all, an entire line of products called "Bed Head." I have that every morning, with no effort!