Beauty

I've been struggling a bit lately. I don't know if it has been more of a gradual thing since I injured myself or more of just a newer problem with my current state. I suspect the former. It is hard to normally be self confident so as not to worry about things like looks or being attractive, etc. Our society puts so much emphasis on this already that I have always felt it is in one's self interest to be their own cheerleader in being confident in their own skin. This is, after all, what really matters. Even if others try to reassure you of your beauty, it is never really heard unless you believe it yourself.
Anyways, I haven't been able to work out as much and then with actually having surgery I find myself looking in the mirror wondering who is this person in front of me. She's overweight, has a huge contraption on one leg and walks like an unsteady giant instead of an elegant woman. I am glad my situation is only temporary.
But it did get me to thinking about others who may not be as fortunate. For example, breast cancer survivors. Often times their bodies are so altered through mastectomies and loosing their hair, etc that I've heard they have a hard time feeling beautiful, and I can see exactly why. Of course their hair will grow back but part of what has defined them in our society as woman is their breasts and with those gone I would imagine it is a hard undergoing to re-build your self-image and especially to re-build in a positive light.
And then there are woman who are stunningly beautiful per societies standards and yet so so ugly on the inside. Even they don't have the self-assurance and self-confidence which is evidence from how they tend to be mean and ugly to those less fortunate in order to build up their pseudo self-confidence.
I guess I don't have any real inspiring conclusion to this post other than I have never thought ill of people with disabilities or deformities and I certainly try to see the beauty in everyone. I wish there was a way to instill own's one self-assurance and self-confidence so that no one looks in the mirror and wonders who that person is in front of them. I wish we could all have peace with the individual things that makes us who we are and thus beautiful.