As a very young child, my beauty was actually noted not just by relatives but also by strangers. I had fair skin, dark brown hair, and sported the cutest of baby outfits. When I started to go to school, that beauty was overshadowed by my apparent brilliance in academics. So as I grew up, people started to think of me as the "Smart One" instead of referring to me as the "Fair and Beautiful one".
I didn't really mind being seen as the smart kid. In our family, there's a lot of value placed on being smart. So from being the beautiful child I developed into the awkward adolescence who sported very thick eye glasses, slightly darker skin, gaunt face from being thin, and pock-marked face from the pimples that came with growing up.
Today, the glasses are gone and replaced with contact lenses. A large part of the pimples are gone but my face will forever have the scars from those years. And instead of being gaunt and thin, I have managed to gain some weight and even some muscle in the right areas from years of working out. The awkward years are definitely just memories.
These days - I still ask myself - would I rather be cute or smart? Most often than not - my response is: "I can't answer that question - but I'm thankful that I'm both."
