Believe it

Have you heard about the Dove soap beauty-patch experiment? It's an amazing story—one I learned about on a "Today" show segment last week.

A series of women agreed to participate in a research group to test a patch they would wear on their arms 12 hours a day for two weeks. In that time, they would record a video diary about how they felt during that time period. These women knew that the patch was supposed to enhance the way they saw their own beauty (knowing we women often don't see our own beauty). They had no idea what the product contained.

At first the women said they noticed no change; but after about the fourth day, they began to feel more confident, more beautiful and willing to try new things. They made different decisions than they had made when they didn't like the way they looked. They felt better about themselves.

At the end of the experiment, they were told that the patch contained absolutely nothing. There were no secret ingredients—nothing that would affect the way they saw themselves! However, because they believed the patch contained ingredients to enhance their beauty, they felt more beautiful and felt better about themselves. The message: Beauty is a state of mind!

Believe it! Believe in yourself. Believe in your beauty. You are truly a one-of-a-kind!