Question
Gramps,
I was wondering, I really want to be a singer but I really hate the way I look. Most of the time when I look at myself in the mirror I am so ashamed of myself because I have buck teeth and an ugly face. Every time when I see Britney Spears she looks so cool and really pretty and she has an awesome voice. Any suggestions on how I can feel good about me? (I want to be more like Britney Spears)!
Jenny
Answer
Dear Jenny,
How far do you think that Britney Spears would get with her pretty face if she had an ugly voice? It sounds to me that you would rather be a model than a singer. Let me tell you a story. When I was in the Air Force in Alaska as a young man during WWII, I went to church in a small branch of the Mormon Church. The branch president was Wells Bowen. Brother Bowen had had cancer of the lip, and in order to remove the cancer they had to close up the left half of his mouth. He was rather badly disfigured, and as I walked into the meeting hall for the first time, I couldn’t keep my eyes off his disfiguration. But he was the kindest, most gentle person up to that time that I had ever met. After he began to speak I never again noticed the disfiguration. The beauty of his personality obliterated the scars.
Real beauty in not in the appearance of the skin but in the radiance of the soul. If you can become comfortable with who you are rather than with how you look, and deport yourself with quiet confidence, sincere people will quickly see through the superficial exterior to the beauty and grace of who you really are.
Gramps