Girl problems and guys

This is kind of a strange title, but, seeing as I've been thinking about girl problems a lot lately, and even discussed them briefly with my "adopted" big brother, I figured a post might be in order. 

So, what are girl problems?  Well, in the case of the last couple days, it has been the never-ending problem of "getting prettified"--as I so elegantly put it whilst getting ready for spring formal. 

I used to be obsessed with this.  I was 15 when my mom let me wear makeup, and I was crazed.  I would. not. leave. the. house. unless I had some on, and by the way, hair had to be perfect too.  As I've grown older, this has faded, and now I'll go out with no makeup and imperfect hair without so much as a glance in the mirror.  But sometimes my "I don't care" attitude gets shoved back. 

So, tonight is a graduation ceremony for the local homeschool group, and my orchestra always plays for it.  So I will be donning blue performance dress and shoes that hurt my feet...fun...and playing Pomp and Circumstance while an endless line of lucky seniors take their time marching down the aisle.  But tonight is more special for me than most nights.  My "adopted" big brother, a guy who might as well be my brother, and some other childhood friends are all graduating tonight.  So I decided that I'd make an effort to look nice, since two of my best friends will also be there, and they're always gorgeous...sooooo....yeah...

For some girls, getting "prettified" is no big deal.  But for me, when I decide to make an effort, it's an effort.  And what do I have to show for this effort?  A few burns on my fingers from a curling iron, a nailpolish pen that exploded all over my fingers, and a general mess to clean up.  So I have to ask myself...was it worth it? 

Yes. 

Now on to the point.  I was trying to find a way to talk to one of my best friends...who's actually more like a sister, so I was asking her brother about her whereabouts, because I needed to ask her a question and she wasn't answering her texts.  He had no idea what I wanted to ask her, but when I said, "girl problems" he instantly replied with a "yeah, I'm glad I don't have to deal with those." 

So why do we? 

Why do girls have to deal with girl problems?  When I was getting ready for spring formal, I told my "big brother" that I was getting all pretty.  His response surprised me:  "No, you're getting fancy.  You're already pretty."  So do guys really care about all the fussing and the efforts?  To some degree I'd say that yes, they do.  I mean what guy wouldn't want his girl to look pretty for him?  But it's not as important to them as we girls make it out to be.  I know girls who don't wear makeup and who don't do all kinds of crazy things to their hair, and they're still pretty, and some of them are even married to wonderful guys.  (Some of them are my age, and therefore too young to get married...lol) 

I think that girls don't have to wear two tons of makeup to look pretty.  They don't have to fry their hair to a crisp to be beautiful.  What really matters is what's inside.  "Pretty is as pretty does", as the old saying goes.  It's true.  It really is.  The girls I know that don't wear makeup?  They have amazing personalities!  The inside of them--their hearts--is so beautiful it washes over onto their faces. 

Now I admit, there are guys out there who are crazy superficial and they actually do want their girls to always have perfect hair and makeup.  But is that really what a girl should want?  Shouldn't her man care more about her heart and who she is underneath the makeup?  I'm going to say yes. 

So girls...take off the pounds of makeup.  Put on a smile.  Throw your hair in a messy ponytail.  Let joy radiate from your heart.  You'll be 100 times more beautiful.  :)