Found! The Road to Ageless Beauty

Searching for the Fountain of Youth is costing us a pretty penny. In the United States, the billions of dollars we spend annually on anti-aging products increases by nearly 9% every year. Count me in: I’ve paid for my fair share for eye creams, age-defying moisturizers, even laser treatments. But I’ve come to discover a far less expensive, much more enjoyable solution.

The beauty industry has most of us convinced that if we don’t use special creams and pricey injections to ward off the aging process, we could all shrivel up like raisins in the blink of an eye. But they’ve failed to share the most powerful anti-aging secret of all. Those who say “beauty is only skin deep” are wrong. Natural, ageless beauty is actually soul deep.

No matter where you live, what you do, how you look or how much money you have, beauty and joy is equally attainable for every single person on the planet. It doesn’t always come naturally or easily, but practice makes perfect and the rewards are great. If you ever spend time or money on improving your appearance, then you can adopt a beauty regimen that serves your soul, too.

Reserve two minutes a day to focus solely on something you find beautiful : a butterfly, a flower, the sky, a work of art. Look closer, deeper, and longer than you ever have before. Count the petals on a rose, watch the sunset from start to finish, sit under a tree and stare up at the canopy of leaves. As you begin to routinely discover the miracles all around you, you’ll likely feel a stirring inside; that’s joy and gratitude in bloom within you.

We age from the inside out, not the outside in. Science has proven that people who are genuinely happy live longer and more fulfilling lives. Appreciating the beauty and blessings of each day is an easy way to invite happiness into your life. It’s so simple, yet so powerful. Even on the worst of days, you can find something that stirs your soul; a hidden gem just waiting to be noticed. If you expect to find the sweet stuff of life in your midst, you absolutely will.

Eventually, you’ll get so good at celebrating the beauty surrounding you that you’ll start to see it in yourself. Every laugh line will become a badge of honor, every age spot a treasured souvenir from a good, long trip. Each morning, you wake up to the ultimate gift: another 24 hours to live this beautiful life of yours. And the Fountain of Youth is right there in your own backyard.

(originally written for ThinkEmpoword.com)