Venus, the Goddess of Love

     I have long ago accepted that I am not a stunning beauty.  Although, in my teen years I had wished sometimes that I was. My mom was after all a mestiza beauty in her youth. Growing up, I was surrounded by striking and drop dead gorgeous girls. My luck was that I was often close or best friends with a campus crush and the town's "It" girls.  Wherever we went, boys flocked to them like bees do so with honey. I think the only time I got to be noticed by the opposite sex was if the guy was related to my friends (like a cousin or relative) and therefore already immune to their charms. Otherwise, guys sought me out not to woe me but to ask if I could help them get a date with my pretty girlfriends.  But it was not so bad, who wouldn't like free meals, pizzas, and movies courtesy of my friends' numerous admirers? It had its downside, though, because it was disheartening at some point. Surrounded by those lovesick puppies under the spell of a friend's charms, I felt like the third wheel, a sidekick to a movie heroine.  While the boys hang on to every word  my pal said, my opinion--although it had more substance than hers, hardly mattered. I wondered then if beauty was the only thing important with boys.

A few years later, my pretty friends and I drifted apart because of different career paths and interests. During those times, I discovered that there are people and species from the opposite sex who like me for myself.  For once, it was nice to be able to express an opinion and really be heard and listened to by the guys. It was surprising because suddenly I had one or two cute admirers wherever I go, asking for my number, requesting that I go out to dinner with them. I wondered what happened? Is it because the boys have grown up or did I changed and metamorphosed into one beautiful butterfly?  Hahaha, goodness, no! It was just that I finally became my own person, confident and sure of herself. By this time, beauty to me was no longer an issue. To have features bordering on the ordinary was alright.  It has its advantages, I realized.  Like I was not most likely to get mugged or stalked  Most of all, I know that I am loved because of the person that I am and not because he is temporarily bedazzled by my looks or because I am another feather to add to his cap.   

Fast-forward to present, happily married now with kids of my own, I look back at that time in my life and laugh at the irony of it all. Beauty does have its perks, but it doesn't guarantee happiness and lifelong relationship. Being drop dead gorgeous doesn't mean you won't get your heart broken and that your man will always be faithful to you. I have friends who are stuck in unhappy marriages and relationships, in spite of their beguiling looks and bewitching smiles. Yet here I am, not really a "beauty" in the  Hollywood sense of the word; but, I get to be treated by two gorgeous boys in my life as if I were Venus, the Goddess of Love.