Known for her beauty, elegance, and grace, Audrey Hepburn could possibly be the most inspirational woman in history. Born in Belgium, she moved to the Netherlands  to study at Arnhem Conservatory as a youth. After the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, she and her mother struggled to survive. After the war at age 22, she left Europe and went to New York to be on Broadway. I think we all know the rest of the story. Despite her struggles as a youth and a young adult, she went through life poised, with her chin held high(something all of us with scoliosis should work on, as we sometimes like to stand hunched over or with our shoulders turned in), and with a great sense of style.

I took it upon myself to find some of her best quotes(in my opinion) and inspire you with them!

“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”- Audrey Hepburn

I liked this quote because it spoke the complete truth about life. To be seen as beautiful, you must first act beautiful by “looking for the good in others” and “speak[ing] only words of kindness.” Not to sound cliche, but beauty truly does come from the inside, not the outside. To relate it back to scoliosis, it means that scars, braces and rib humps don’t contribute or take away from your beauty. Only you can decide how pretty you are. Lastly she says to know that you are never alone, and even those of us with scoliosis.

“I believe in pink! I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe in tomorrow, and I believe in miracles.”

First of all, I completely agree with the first statement. I completely believe whole-heartedly in pink! The most feminine of all colors, all I have to do is put on something pink and I immediately feel extra girly and confident! The second part of the quote talks about life again and focuses on the positive aspect of life. Being happy, remaining strong, and believing in miracles are not circumstantial. You can have happiness anywhere; you can choose positivity over negativity in any enviroment, and if you believe in miracles only during the good times of life, then you don’t truly believe anyway. It’s all about deciding to look at your life as a glass half full, whether you have to wear a brace under or outside your clothes, or if you have surgery looming in the future or scars from the past, things could be 1 million times worse. There are children in Africa and America, too, that are starving, people that are homeless, and people who have lost loved ones.

So follow Ms. Hepburn’s advice; look at life as if the sun is rising instead of setting and as if you have an entire life ahead of you with a purpose and plan instead of troubles this very second.