Nordegren vs Woods. A lesson learned.

The public demise of Tiger Woods' marriage has been horrible to watch. I feel so sad for his wife. I don't read glossies so I don't really know what's going on (although I doubt very much that the glossies do either.. ) but Elin Nordegren - aka Mrs Tiger Woods - has been publicly humiliated, what I would assume to be one of her greatest nightmares coming true, splashed over just about every media-seized surface in the western world.

What I've been reminded of as I've watched this heartbreaking story unfold, is that we put too much emphasis on how we look. Ms Nordegren is a beautiful woman who used to be a model. Even still, Tiger cheated. If you believe the tabloids, he cheated regularly, indiscretely and in excess, even though he was married to a stunningly beautiful woman.

As I said earlier, I don't know what's going on in their relationship and I'm not about to pretend to know - it's not even any of my business to know, or to have an opinion on it. But feeling insecure about (what we feel are) physical inadequacies, is not worth the emotional stress and pain it causes. We all have features that we're not happy with. Big, small, flat, round, straight, curly, black, brown - the grass isn't always greener! Physical perfection does not bring happiness - in marriage or otherwise.

There is so much pressure on women to look 'perfect'. In the movies, the beautiful girls always get the hot guys. The not so beautiful girls seem to usually fill the 'baddie' role. How about the 'ugly stepsisters'? What's with that?! What, they're bad because they're 'ugly'?

As a woman (and wife) sometimes I find myself caught in the trap. I feel like it's my 'duty' to look as good as possible, all the time. If I don't, I'm not doing a good enough job, I seem to tell myself. Where do these thoughts come from? I have no idea, but I have a feeling that I'm not alone.

Outer beauty is not enough to save a relationship. Sure, it's great to take care of ourselves and have a bit of fun along the way, but there's way too much priority put on outward appearances.

If a model's husband strays, this is proof enough for me - looks shouldn't be my priority. They're never going to be enough to build a strong, lasting relationship.

This You-Tube really puts this in perspective.