For some reason, “before and after” stories, especially with accompanying photos, pique our interest. The most common stories are of dramatic weight loss, usually linked to a fad or diet, and often stories about cosmetic surgical make-overs. But the kind of before and after stories that have intrigued me the most are the ones that are about people taking responsibility for how they are living, for making different choices – for making choices that are more self-loving, more nurturing. These changes are impulsed from within but still create an outer change.
These are the ultimate human-interest stories. I’ve been pondering on why they are so compelling. One possible reason is that we are all drawn to change. Scary as it may feel at times, change is inevitable and therefore necessary.
Photographs give us a visible and textural marker of evolution happening although we may not be able to see it in the minutiae of day to day changes. And if our very nature is to change, to evolve, then the “before and after” photos and stories confirm that we are doing what comes naturally and that we are succeeding.
When we look at old photos of ourselves, we are often appalled at the clothes we had on, we cringe at how we styled our hair, we laugh at the look on our face. But if we look at these old photos without judgment of “this was good, this was bad”, “these were the good old days and these were the terrible years”, then the photos become a way for us to observe ourselves.
The before and after changes tell us, in a pictorial way, of who we used to be and who we are now, and perhaps in looking at these photos we may even get a glimpse of why we have made these changes. On first blush it appears to be about better fashion sense, a better haircut, or perhaps a better job that bought better housing and better holidays. But if we look beyond these outer appearances and changes, what can we see by looking back at old photos?
Recently I have been inspired by the before and after photo stories that reflect an outer transformation that follows from a change in lifestyle. These stories moved me to dig back through my old photo albums to see what I could discover about myself, knowing that I had made many lifestyle changes in recent years. Yes, I went through all the comparisons mentioned above. But much to my surprise, I felt my own evolution through the style of glasses that I wore.
I got glasses in the 5th grade. My recollection of this time is that I was a good student and so I was seated at the back of the class. The teacher did not need to keep an eye on me, she did not need to tell me to settle down, and she did not need to tell me to get to work.
At some point I realised I couldn’t see the blackboard from the back of the room. I just thought this was a consequence of my desk being so far away, but upon mentioning this to either my mother, or my teacher, I was moved closer to the front. This was a real bonus as far as I was concerned because I liked my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Apple, very much. She was a kind and attentive teacher so I was happy to sit closer to the front.
Still my mother thought it time to get my eyes tested. Now whether I really needed glasses or whether I wanted to have glasses because Mrs. Apple did, I can’t really say. I do know I picked out some frames that looked as close to Mrs. Apple’s as I could find.
And thus began my life with glasses sitting on my nose and in front of my face; glasses that will sit between me and every image that I observe over the remaining years of my life. But in looking back, I realised those glasses served another, perhaps just as important purpose, although I didn’t know it at the time.
Here I am at 16…
And here I am in 1983 (age 33)…
Notice how much bigger the glasses have become. And notice that they are tinted so you can’t really see my eyes. For the next 25 years I did buy new frames and the lenses often needed strengthening, but the large frames and tint remained basically the same. They had become the perfect way to hide from the world. It was like “You can’t see me, I have my eyes closed” theory, only in my case it was “You can’t see me, because I have on my big tinted glasses”.
1987 (age 37)…
Christmas Day 1993 (age 43)…
I had no conscious awareness of these attempts to hide from the world, but when I looked back through the photo albums recently, it was immediately obvious to me that that was what I was doing… or rather attempting to do. Most of that time I was smoking pot so it was a good way to hide my bloodshot eyes. But I think it was also about trying to hide from myself. I didn’t want to see how I was living. I didn’t want to face myself in the mirror because I wasn’t living the truth of who I was. I was coping the best I could with a number of stressful situations and rather than addressing them head on and with clarity, I was withdrawn and trying to hide myself away from the next blowout, whatever it may look like. Smoking pot or chasing spiritual gurus was all the same – an escape.
Here I am in 2013 (age 63), still wearing glasses but long gone is the tint and not surprisingly, they are almost frameless!!
I now live a life that feels true to who I am and who I want to be. I am no longer hiding from myself, or the world. I wake up every day feeling good, feeling clear. I owe the clarity of mind to lifestyle and dietary changes.
I no longer ingest any substances that stimulate or alter my natural state of being. And I don’t just mean recreational drugs or alcohol. I’m also taking responsibility for not stimulating myself with caffeine, chocolate, sugar and certain other foods that bloat me and take me off centre. I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body.
It is thanks to the great patience and great example of Serge Benhayon and his family that I have been able to make this evolutionary step. And it is thanks to my own desire to live from a soulful level that I am a woman who can see clearly who she is and where she fits in the sea of humanity, no longer trying to hide in plain sight.
By Gayle Cue
Further Inspirational Before & After Photos and Stories:
- True Beauty… Defying Age and Aging by Kylie Connors
- Before and After Universal Medicine – Danielle’s Story by Danielle Pirera
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Gayle it is so beautiful to observe how you’ve evolved over the years, and not just thorough the glasses you wore but how your body presented in each photo. The hardness that can posses a body is very obvious without being critical either.
It’s so true when we live from our bodies instead of our minds, then the connection is very different. We connect to not only the maleness or the femaleness, we connect to that Soul that’s within all of us, which is genderless. And from there, serving humanity is so joyous anything less only hurts oneself.
When we meet someone we are deeply inspired by because of their expression of truth, we can sometimes re-interpret that inspiration by trying to model them and copy them, rather than letting ourselves be inspired to express from our own truth as truly modelled by them. This is something I have fallen for time and time again, and yet when I have experienced those moments of truth in expression coming through me, there is nothing but to express and appreciate the expression, rather than trying to emulate something else that is not who we are.
Gayle this last photo of you shows us how much more comfortable you are with being in your ‘own skin’ so to speak. For a woman to know who she is and to be totally in acceptance and appreciation of this is a gift of greatest value – to herself but also to all other women as a reminder of where we can all be.
I agree Henrietta, but I also observed the tenderness of an ageless woman. Looking so sexy and sassy irrespective of how biologically young they are.
Thank you Gayle – I have just re-read this blog and was reminded of how much we can hide in life, be this behind glasses or another means such as a role we play (even being an actor in life is hiding the true you)… there is a multitude of roles we can take on: Mother, wife, daughter, teacher, dentist, secretary, mechanic etc – so long as we identify with what we do we are hiding from who we actually are. The realisation of this is very powerful, life changing in fact – for when we can let go of the roles and the hiding then we can really begin to live life and give ourselves permission to simply be who we are, glasses or no glasses.
“Scary as it may feel at times, change is inevitable and therefore necessary.” I have recently been exploring this because there are some key areas in my life where I feel I’m resisting change, I’m resisting the new to cling onto the familiar. I liked your line that change is “inevitable and therefore necessary” because it supports the understanding that it’s a part of the natural order of life.
Beautiful that you are no longer hiding, and choosing to be in and connected with your body, ‘I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body.’
The ‘after’ photo is an open invitation to meet who you truly are – gorgeous.
At a very young age I was encouraged to do eye exercises and to date they have worked and at 66 it is great to be able to see clearly. Our abilities fall away if we do not exercise and use them or are lied to so we shut them down, upon this realisation much of life changes and when we start to read the energy that is around us, which is another before and after because at a young age we were shut down from reading energy and now we are re-learning that it was True to feel what energies are doing to us and thus appreciate that we are more than this physicality.
I guess it is a natural progression that as we deepen our connection to who we truly are, what we feel drawn to changes, and what no longer serves gets let go. I can feel how we might sometimes resist this pull and invitation and remain in the comfort of discomfort by coming up with all kinds of excuses to make it less of a priority, and that is rather poisonous.
What a beautiful woman you are Gayle, inside and out.
A beautiful sharing Gayle, what a sassy, spunky, and amazing elder you are in the community. It is great that you came out from hiding as you have so much to offer everyone with the qualities that you live naturally everyday.
In the last photograph there is so much more presence that was definitely hidden in the other photographs – such a powerful testament to healing power of making self-loving lifestyle choices.
Often the best hiding places are in plain sight and while it’s usually about us hiding from the world, it really does start with hiding from ourselves; for the more willing we are to truly see ourselves the more we have a foundation in who we are and what we share with the world.
When we do not hide from ourselves there is no need to hide from the world.
The UM before and after pictures is a clear example of how you can communicate multidimensionality into a linear format.
Before and after stories are enormously powerful, I’ve seen both kinds – so positive and negative ones and they both remind us that every choice we make counts and ultimately had a result, and that we have the power inside us to change our lives – in whatever direction we want.
I have recently got glasses because my eyesight was a little bit less and I started to have headaches after days on the computer. I must say it is a very interesting journey so far. I can feel how it is easy to hide behind glasses at times but also how not wearing glasses for me dulls the reality of life around me a which is also a withdrawal from life. Having these glasses allows me to receive the world around instead of me having to focus to try to see what is going on around me.
I love what you have shared here Elizabeth – using the glasses as a means to support ourselves to see more clearly shows a willingness to see the truth… I too have glasses and to work with this rather than wish I did not have them is a great step in embracing the healing that we are offered in this.
I can say I have also changed in the past few years, but I am here wondering – was that a true deepening of a quality, or was I going after an image? There definitely has been a deepening, yet I am becoming more aware how ingrained we are in the way we dictate and arrange our movement where there is a picture, a goal if you like, we are going towards, and we are essentially trapping ourselves in the old pattern. Something for me to feel into.
Gayle I love that you are no longer ‘hiding in plain sight’, the reflection you offer to others is very powerful in the way that are shining out in the world and embracing the ageing process with such grace and joy.
The photos speak volumes, and how lovely to see you, with no hiding, Gayle in the last photo.
This is a great blog Gayle that is making me wonder how many of us are hiding in plain sight all the beauty that we innately are and the potential that we can bring.
A gorgeous sharing Gayle, thank you and here you are in plain sight shining your beautiful self, your picture says it all. I am impressed to get out my old photos and feel through the different times in my life and what that will reveal to me, I know there have been some amazing changes that have happened to me over the past few years.
This most recent picture looks like a completely different person – and I guess in a sense that is true. When we come to know our true innate selves we leave behind who we once believed ourselves to be, to instead be all that we are and in fact, all we have always been beneath the facade.
Yes, in the most recent picture of Gayle she looks and feels very different to her earlier pictures. A very gorgeous confirmation of the feminine Gayle.
Before and after pictures point to specific changes. What changes get our attention? That is up to the observer. And, not everyone is interested in the same, or is willing to really feel all that a picture reveals. Making it about energy is the most telling exercise of registering change.
“I am no longer hiding from myself, or the world.” A shining inspiration to others to equally share their light and love.
How interesting to see how the more you chose to see yourself the more you became visible to everyone else and then to realise that, that applies to everyone.
Hard to believe that you wore tinted glasses and were a stonner once?! The woman I have come to know is confident and direct and does not hide from anyone, especially herself. You really have made some very different choices that have served you very well, the love and strength now radiates from you, stunning.
It’s amazing what we can read when we are willing to see the truth. I’ve often thought about going through my old photos and doing a before and after…….today may just be the day.
As a fashion accessory I have always wanted to experiment with frames, although every time I put them on whether with prescription or not, they cannot remain long on my face before I feel there is too much on me, and I have to take them off. With glasses I also feel there is a need to feel “professional” or “proper” and that is an image that kind of sets me apart, there is a bit of separation and distance, which is not what I really want to convey or feel true about.
Its interesting to observe how clever we are to hide. How it is that we create ‘our owned’ specific ways to not stand out, be in comfort, and not be challenged. We create this to offset to not feel we have originally chosen this upon ourselves. It might seemingly look as those what is happening to us or what we do is due to our environment and the setup of the world, but what I have determined is we have created it (all). I do not want to feel how much I have allowed the abuse of myself.
Looking at your pictures throughout your life speaks volumes of how you have changed, ‘ I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body.’ Wonderful.
I was thinking when reading this writing , that some times the world is so un-loving that we want to look at it with tinted glasses so we can distort the image we are receiving so that it does not look so bad so to speak. But this is just another method of hiding and not taking responsible , for what one brings to the world. Thank you for sharing.
The way we live shows very clearly on our faces and body as we age. The life of inner love is shining on your face Gayle.
Thank you for sharing your observations Gayle, I had to wear glasses occasionally in my late teens, I did not like wearing them at all and was so relieved when I could wear contact lenses, to have now come back round to wearing glasses because of dry eyes, and now being fine with wearing glasses.
The title of your blog made me smile because I can relate to hiding in plain sight for many years. It takes a lot of effort and hard word to do that. I’m discovering its easier to just be me and let the world see and deal with that rather than continue to constantly second guess how others want me to be, which really has nothing to do with others, but what I have subscribed to. There is a lot to appreciate in the changes you have made and the photos have charted that change well.
I recently went through some old photos, and it was interesting to notice how I hardly recognise myself, I am much softer now in appearance without the hardness that I once used as my form of protection which basically I used to keep people out.
On going through some old photo’s of me in my teens, I was shocked to see how hugely distorted my idea of my body image was. So many years wasted on self loathing for no reason.
It makes sense that our bodies and our faces can be read like a book on our life story and that rather than trying to change the appearance of ourselves from the outside that the greatest changes can be made from the inside out i.e. how we feel on the inside about ourselves will show on the outside.
I love this article, a true blast from the past. I remember the influence my favourite teachers had on me at school and growing up, they were role models for how I was going to be. Photos at any point are a great reminder or reflection of where we are at and I can see that’s what I have always used them for. While reading over this article I remember always looking at photos and how they took me to a certain part of my life. It was like the photo had life and I didn’t just look at the photo itself but could recall where I was in the photo, not in physical location but more how I was living, how I was dealing with the world. I use photos now in the same way and love what they capture. I love seeing them as soon as they are taken, which is a bonus of our modern world. You can pretty much take a photo anytime in any place. I loved the transformation in the photos in this article with the commentary to support what we were seeing, using the photos like I use them as a marker for a point in life.
Amazing observation, Gayle. It’s interesting how wearing glasses for you at first was simply a necessary support to see better, then it turned into a shield to hide behind. When I started putting on make-up, it was an addition, then over the years there came a point where I started feel less if I didn’t have make-up on. I used to think that I was hiding myself, but I am now wondering if it was the fact that I was hiding from the world and living a lie that I so wanted to hide.
How deeply inspiring it is, to see ‘before and after’ images that reveal a restoration of the true loveliness of a person. Age matters nought when the fullness of someone’s presence is felt – in fact, this turns our societal ‘norm’ on its head, where so many lose vibrancy and a strong sense of their innate beauty and essence as they age. To see someone actually thriving all the more as the years go by, is testament to the quality of the life lived – clearly in this case, to The Way of The Livingness.
I know I feel far more vibrant and ‘me’ at age 48 than I did at 28, or 18 for that matter… This is remarkable beyond measure.
This is very inspiring Gayle, and I can’t help but notice the femininity that has also returned to your face. It was as if this had been covered over/masked also in those years ‘in between’, and today you let it – i.e. you – be seen openly, in all of your beauty.
Deeply inspiring.
I love that you can look back and have realisations about the choices you have made in life and why…. and then get to appreciate that through living the principles of the Ageless Wisdom presented by Universal Medicine, we no longer need to hide our true expression in the ways we once did.
My feeling is that the power of a before and after story is that it reminds us that change is possible. We have all had feelings of emptiness, that this is not the way we want to live… and a true story of change reminds us that anything is possible both for them and for us… its just a question of how we are living and the choices we make.
Oooof! how awesome is that Gayle. I love the fact that it’s never too late to realise that we are well worth being seen for who we are, just as we are, warts and all.
It is interesting what we choose to hide behind whether it is glasses, clothes, make-up, a partner, etc but as we lovingly commit to ourselves, the things we hide behind gently get exposed and our true self comes to light.
We tend to react to objects, clothes and haircuts we see in past pictures and get upset. But what if we started to see these snapshots as indicators of energy we were in, in the past? Then perhaps we could question and honestly look at how we are today. For sure the styles and objects may have been updated but has the energy changed? Thanks Gayle for helping me see that there are messages waiting for us, in plain sight.
Well said Joseph – our choices are a reflection of our energetic alignment.
There are before and afters and before and afters. What is truly beautiful is to feel how those people taking responsibility for their own lives, somehow are able to return to the before of the before previous to the after.
I agree Gayle that pictures do speak a thousand words and not just the physical appearance changes and changes of fashion, but the feeling or sense we get from pictures and photos say loads about how we have been living up until the moment the photo was taken.
Wow Gayle I find it very inspirational what you have shared about your glasses. I love it how you changed your life and with that also your style of glasses – by the way you look and feel very beautiful and much younger with your latest glasses choice.
Gayle,
I can completely relate to what you share here about glasses. I too have had the huge frames, the tinting (which I still have) and the sense of not wanting to see the truth of my life. Hiding in plain sight is something I have done for years, of late I can feel that some of my hiding has been to not bore another with my life, so I held back from sharing in full, my experiences. I am beginning to discover the falseness in this, as I open and share more, I can feel at times a deep appreciation from others as they can relate to my experiences, as I have related to yours here.
Beautiful Gayle to see you come out of hiding. It is interesting how many people have the need to hide from this world and the various ways they choose to do that. It tells a lot about our society and the way we are with each other that so many in our communities do not feel safe to show their true face and beauty.
“I now live a life that feels true to who I am and who I want to be. I am no longer hiding from myself, or the world. I wake up every day feeling good, feeling clear. I owe the clarity of mind to lifestyle and dietary changes. ” Gorgeous – and a fab photo of you in your ‘frameless’ specs.
Gayle, the ‘after’ photo of you is gorgeous and I can feel that you have nothing to hide but an openness to share all that you are with the world.
It is truly beautiful and inspiring to read your story Gayle of how you have transformed your life from drugs, food and dark glasses to making loving choices that supported your body and has allowed you to no longer hide from the world to now shining brightly for all to see.
While I was reading your blog Gayle, I could feel how I retreated from the world by not being present and taking myself away by being racy. So caffeine and sugar were my way of putting the world at arms’ length. This did not do me any good and I really missed myself, not even consciously knowing that I was doing this, just feeling out of whack. What a true blessing it is to have returned to fully embrace being present and available to life. Getting rid of those things that kept me at arms’ length from the world is brilliant.
Gayle, beautiful honest sharing of your life. I too had glasses at a young age. I could feel that I was not being seen for who I was and was able to hide behind them. It wasn’t until I got contact lens that I experienced interactions and connections with me and not with the barrier of glasses and the distortion of thick lenses. Reading your story Gayle brought back this memory and realization.
I love the title of your blog Gayle, “hiding in plain sight”. Isn’t that what we are all basically doing? We are hiding behind our insecurities and inadequacies adapting behaviours that make life possible for us but underneath all that is the ‘real me’, our essence, always shining through. We might not see it so clearly anymore as we are convinced by and caught up in our issues but others are not so easily fooled. And when we are honest with ourselves, and like you did take some old photos to guide us, we cannot deny the beauty and potential that there is in us. Realising and accepting that is then the start to bring this to the fore and live it full heartedly.
It’s beautiful to real your evolution Gayle – amazing you can do it just by clocking your glasses. And yet, when we need to wear glasses, they do become part of our body, our vehicle of expression, so just in the same way we change our hair to express how we feel within, so too do glasses change.
Gail I love that I can see you in your most recent photo. As I look at the others we I feel like I am missing out on you as you hide behind your glasses. You also feel younger in your later photo – the result of living you no doubt.
Thank you for sharing your before and after photos Gayle and it is so clear in your last photo your solidness with where you are and therefore your willingness to be seen in full. I can relate to hiding in plain sight and big glasses are a great way of doing that! I still finding having my photo taken quite confronting because it is a record of where I am at and so often in the past I have not wanted to see the evidence of my lifestyle choices. Since making different choices I am slowly becoming more comfortable with seeing and being seen thanks to the practical presentations by Serge Benhayon and the ongoing support to make loving changes in my life.
There’s something about before and after photos that can really capture our attention when they’re not reflecting anything invasive, dramatic or traumatic but are instead showing the results of what can happen when people come to their senses and start living in a way that is simple, honouring and nurturing of the body. For they reflect back to us what is possible for ourselves when we choose to take true responsibility and care deeply enough.
This blog shows us how early in our lives we start hiding from life and ourselves. It could be by using glasses, certain clothes, food, alcohol, drugs etc. I love how you have shared about the glasses Gayle because it shows us that we can use “normal” things to hide or avoid ourselves but whether it is a harmful substance or glasses, it is all on the same spectrum.
Reading your transformation Gayle is making me wonder how many others statistically in the world are hiding in plain sight. What we all need to consider and ponder on is why? Our next consideration is what would the world be like if we all did actually commit to truly healing and living the joyful after effects of this healing by letting go of what has hurt us and holds us back.
What an awesome before and after Gayle. The fact that your after is clearly continually deepening and expanding is an inspiration for us all.
Thanks for Sharing Gayle. I must say you looked gorgeous at 16, and again today 😀
I totally agree, we need to look back at past things that we have done and see the truth – why we chose what we did and what was happening at the time. I know I have looked back with judgement sometimes, does this mean I still carry judgement about myself now? yes. But we need to learn to see and know things for what they are, and this will help us to not react to everything we see and know.
Loved what you shared Gayle, looking back to the past is a good indicator to how we have been. Keeping records are great if not only for ourselves but to share with others who may one day walk the same path.
It’s wonderful to see and feel the changes in you Gayle and inspiring to know that we have the choice to become more beautiful as you have done as we age through how we choose to live.
Gayle the pictures certainly are worth a thousand words. I love how you are shining now and love the symbolism of the rimless glasses. We can’t really hide from the world because the fact that you were hiding was so obvious!
So true hartanne60, it’s crazy to think that we can hide how we feel, when what we feel is always felt by everyone. Gayle it is beautiful to see you shining so brightly for all to feel and see.
You were hiding behind your tinted glasses, but these glasses not only gave you the opportunity to hide but also to not see the world what the world has become. It gave life a colour which was not true.
It is very clear you are not hiding anymore Gayle, you are clearly saying ‘hello world here I am and I am here for all to see’ and see they will, your amazingness, clarity and love for humanity is coming out loud and clear not only in this picture but in your beautiful voice too!
Wow, what a transformation! So lovely to see the steadiness, and loving resolve to be fully you without hiding, shows in your eyes.
What intrigues me about the concept of before and after photos is the degree to which the changes are sustained in the participants after the ‘after’. Standard weight loss before and afters stop at a point where someone can be measured as though it’s a static happy ever after moment. But life’s not like that and so stories abound about yo-yo dieting, with subsequent photos proving the lack of continuity in results. Universal Medicine’s before and after series shows sustainable change over time and a continued palpable deepening beyond skin deep. This is particularly evident in your last photo, Gayle – that lived steadiness, depth and gentle strength.
You are glowing Gayle, the presence you are holding at 63 feels so true. The symbolism offered by the glasses whilst in 5th grade brought you forward and out allowing you to see more clearly, they also allowed for the choice of now that I can see – do I want to be seen. As you have shared the connection to self unfolded from there. Everything is a reflection and what you have offered has inspired me to look more closely at my photos beyond the clothing, haircut etc. Thank you.
I love this sharing Gayle, what a great reflection of your life. Your last photo is amazing, thank goodness you stopped hiding the beautiful woman that you are from the world. Now we get to see your beauty, power and who you are. What strikes me about this is how important it is to have older people staying in life, leading the way and reflecting back their wisdom to others.
Hiding is a theme that is coming up a lot for me lately. When we are not living the truth we know, we can come up with a myriad of ways to hide. I hid in my roles as a good student, a church member, a wife, a mother. Since coming to the work of Universal Medicine I now understand that no one benefits from hiding – not me or anyone else. I am now learning to live all of who I am, even if it rocks the apple cart.
I can relate to this theme too Carmel – for me it was also hiding behind being a good mother and business partner and all the things I ‘did’ or thought I should be ‘doing’ and when I didn’t do enough, I hid behind the ‘not doing enough’ and using this as an excuse for not being all of me. The other thing I yo-yo’d with for a few decades was using food and exercise to hide or avoid feeling all of who I am. However I too am learning that hiding doesn’t serve me and certainly doesn’t serve another so I too “am now learning to live all of who I am, even if it rocks the apple cart.”
Coming back to this blog has got me wondering, what is my relationship with my sight? Due to lifestyle changes my prescription has changed in that it has gotten better. However I see this as a result of the many choices I have accumulated over the years. I notice how when I am unwilling to feel something right then and there my eyesight gets worse if not waring my glasses and it sharpens the more I choose to be aware of what I am feeling. The goal is not to be glasses free but I feel that there is more my sight is communicating than I have taken notice of. What more then is there to see and be aware of?
Thank you Gayle I love what you have shared with your before and after photos. I always find it inspiring observing how people’s lives have transformed by making loving choices as you so gorgeously have. And I also love this last picture of you now as for me it reflects the joy of living in a body that is truly well loved and with the graceful and divine presence of you.
Thank you for sharing your before and after photos Gayle, I too have worn glasses for most of my life and like you for much of that time they were huge and tinted. I had not before connected the dots in why I chose such frames and to tint my glasses, but what you share feels pretty true for me too. About a year ago I went off to the optometrist, I was wanting to no longer wear glasses at all, but my eyes were not suitable candidates for laser surgery and I simply cannot do contacts. So glasses I still have, but they are much smaller partially frameless, ahh, but still tinted. In reading your blog I can clearly feel why they are and for this I thank you.
I have over time morphed into someone that is no long the person I previously was, internally and externally. I am showing the signs of time but there is an inner vitality that shines out now. I have also hidden over all these years, I have always been a photographer documenting life as I have moved through it but never one to be in the photos. I have large periods of my life that there are no photos of me. Because of choices I have made I no longer am hiding from my self or the world.
Amazing Gayle I am inspired through your lovely blog to have a look at my old pictures as well – but not only to have a look at my hairstyle or at my fashion choices. This is a good tip because I was looking only at this. What I love from your picture is that you are looking so much younger and sexier when you are 63 years old than when you were younger. That is what is mind blowing and that is what makes people curious – they like to know your secret – what you have shared so open hearted.
Beautifully said Ester. I agree with you, Gayle certainly does look younger and feels so full of grace in the last photo. As beautiful and as exquisite as any rose I have ever seen.
What a beautiful uncovering of yourself and a stepping out from the shadows. Amazing that your choice of glasses in these photos so clearly shows how you have been changing, and what a beautiful clear and open Gayle presents herself in your last picture.
Thank you for sharing this. This is a great reminder to come out of hiding- to not hold back.
I have my own before and after photos and story. I weighed 120 lbs. forever. And lived life to the fullest, it was full of alcohol, caffeine and things that made you go faster. I had called it my T & A diet…tension and anxiety. Then I stopped and got comfortable with someone else that also was happy with that arrangement. I buried my hurts but the self-abuse continued that I was doing to my self and body. I was slowing becoming the poster child of what not to do to your self to live a healthy life style. I meet Serge Benhayon and over the years from making new choices to the way I was committing slow suicide by the way I was living a strange thing happened… the real me stepped out of the shadow of what I had grown into; over weight, poor health and all the bad habits. I no longer hide in mine or any ones shadow. I am getting younger as I am growing older and I love it.
Wow Gayle the changes you have are in your life are truly amazing. To go from hiding behind dark tinted glasses to letting the world see who you truly are is deeply inspiring and your photos clearly show that making loving choices has supported you to allow your beauty and light to shine.
So beautiful to read Gayle, I really loved your last photo of a very claimed and present woman. I feel it’s time for me to visit my old photos and see what they will reveal.
No matter how much we try to hide you can see the beauty shining from within. In every single one of those photos I see a very beautiful woman where that light shines despite changing in fashion and lifestyle … Amazing!
Lovely to read Gayle that you are no longer hiding the gorgeous and tender woman you are from the world, Lucky us! Thank you for sharng your process of evolution and the important reminder that; ‘It is our very nature to evolve, to change, change is inevitable’. I totally agree, and better we make the change ourselves, than life forcing us…..
I really am questioning again and again Gayle why it is that we hide who we are. It seems completely illogical and yet most people do it from the time they go to school or earlier – once they realise that others don’t like people who don’t hide who they are!
Great point Lucy, why do we hide who we are, I know I did, and most of us do, Is it possible as children our light is so bright that it makes others uncomfortable, because the reflection is a painful reminder that they walked away from their own light, and as children we feel all of this, so so we dim our light to ‘fit’ in, be liked and not stand out?
Gayle thank you this is an amazing story. I particularly love the last photo of you, you look so claimed within yourself and so comfortable in your own skin. It’s very awesome that you have chosen to allow the world to really see how gorgeous and amazing you truly are.
This is simply beautiful Gail, “And it is thanks to my own desire to live from a soulful level that I am a woman who can see clearly who she is and where she fits in the sea of humanity, no longer trying to hide in plain sight.” I too am coming out of hiding and am feeling huge inner transformations, which is showing on the outer!
It is remarkable to see the transformation in your face and eyes Gayle, from the earlier hiding and tomboy persona to the confident and gorgeous woman you now are.
I too am one that loves to observe the change and it is fascinating to notice that people associated with Universal Medicine appear to come alive. It is remarkable to witness people who I usually wouldn’t find attractive become drop dead gorgeous when they start to live from who they really are. Beauty really is within and when that is connected to the outer takes care of itself.
Looking through this pictorial story it is obvious you have come out the other end winning, just by connecting deeply to yourself and dropping what no longer (excuse the pun) fits the picture!
I really appreciate this quote “I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body”.I know this to be my experience also and one that I must have felt the pull from the inside, because I did not have the connection to understand what lay ahead me. I have also found ‘clarity’ a wonderful word, through supporting my body and being honest about what comes up for me in life.
I am also inspired with the gorgeous transformations of the people who have changed their lives by living their true selves. It is so interesting to see all the before photos stretching back to childhood and the photos that show how they have been affected by the world and the life they have lived.
Thank you Gayle for your photos and also giving me some excellent pointers when I come to look at my own past photos.
I love your current glasses and the fact that you shine through them. I do like the ones you wore at age 16 too although it can be easily seen how much you hide there. There are many ways to hide. We all have triple PhDs in Hideology. The before and after is really amazing. We can learn so much simply by looking beyond appearances!
Ha Ha Eduardo, I love that ‘triple PhDs in Hideology’, I can sure relate to that one.
A beautiful account of the transformation you have made to the glorious woman you are. A pleasure to read and to see.
It’s funny Gayle that even though you tried to hide behind your tinted glasses you couldn’t really hide because people could still see your eyes. So perhaps we cannot really hide as much as we’d like to think. People can always see and feel how we are and if we are living to our full potential or not. It’s a great story you share and I loved reading about your unfoldment with your glasses.
What an amazing blog Gayle, love how you write and express, and also how you’ve exactly captured the truth we can feel about old photos, and all our nit-picking blushes! You’ve raised such a great point in seeing beyond these reactions, and what struck me from your post was seeing that perhaps these gasps (of despair, or otherwise) are more down to us being able to feel that the photo is capturing the way we were living ‘back then’. And that when we start to live from the truth of who we are as evidenced by your latest photos, then the gasps of cringe give way to gasps of complete joy in the beauty that’s there – lived.
Your frameless glasses look amazing on you Gayle. There is a big difference in your before and afters and it’s clear what you said about your tinted glasses…There are so many things that people use in this world to hide or to cover up what we don’t what to see/feel. I find these before and afters so much more interesting than the simple weight loss ones. The development back and discovery about oneself is an amazing thing to witness and I do love seeing it.
Great insight to why you wore tinted glasses – not to keep the glare out but to keep you hiding from the world. The after photos – here you are with clear shining eyes for all to see, confirming the loving changes you have chosen for yourself. This is an inspiring reflection for all who know you and have contact with you Gayle.
I love how you have explored your before and after transformation through the style and size of spectacle frames. In the final photo, then aged 63, your are fully present with yourself, your eyes sparkle through almost transparent frames, we feel your true and radiant self.
Wow what a transformation, your picture at 63 looks amazing, fully claimed and present for the whole world to see… great blog Gayle it offered me a reflection of how much I hid myself from the world, in my case, so I did not have to stand out or be seen. I could relate to Mary Adler and not wanting to have her photo taken and this made me realise that I was just shying away from myself …silly really.
This is a lovely sharing of your commitment to live in a way that is not just about yourself but about sharing the real beauty of who you are for all others. Thank you Gail.
What a great story of coming back to who you truly are. I love your line ‘I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body.’ I have never heard this expressed so simply and so beautifully. Who would not want clarity of heart after reading that line?
What an amazing transformation!! The glasses you are wearing now do not even look like they are there because you can completely see your eyes. This is something I would call a miracle.. to go your whole life almost hiding bloodshot eyes, to now showing off those beautiful blue eyes without any reservation. Go Gayle!
Thank you for sharing your amazing unfoldment Gayle. A picture tells a thousand words and yours have done exactly that.
To let ourselves be seen, and to choose to see, everything in front of us ( as the song goes) are such great steps to take. We all have something so unique to bring to the world, and the world is less without us, so just by being who we truly are , we are serving, isn’t that just great!
A very revealing article Gayle. When I look at old photographs of myself I can see the shying away from the camera and not wanting to be seen; I always disliked having my photograph taken. Serge Benhayon has inspired me to be aware of the way I was living and to choose to make changes that are more self-nurturing and caring. I can now look in a mirror and see who I truly am and that all I was trying to hide away from was not me.
A very honest article about a beautiful journey.
A very open and honest account of your journey.
One look at your most recent photo says it all, and we finally get to see those beautiful eyes reflecting all the love that you are.
Your story is very inspiring, thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you Gayle, for me I have also found a way to hide although I have never worn glasses. My appreciation is also to Serge Benhayon for sharing how easily we get lost and not expressing the true and whole me. “And it is thanks to my own desire to live from a soulful level” well said Gayle, this is saying it all!
Thank your for highlighting this great sentence gregbarnes888. Great reminder to appreciate myself for desiring to live from a soulful level.
So awesome Gayle, I love what you expose here as it can be so easy to hide in plain sight, I for one have excelled at this. What I enjoyed most was the fact that you are now showing we can all make the choice to take responsibility for the way we live and bring ourselves back to life, out of the darkness and into the light. Thanks for being a beacon of light in this world.
“I am a woman who can see clearly who she is and where she fits in the sea of humanity, no longer trying to hide in plain sight.”
You are indeed a beautiful woman Gayle and the fact that you can now ‘see’ clearly who you are is felt in this last photo. ✨
So lovely to feel beauty-full you in your last picture Gayle. You are so present. In all the other pictures, you are there in body but, as you say, you were hiding and the world was missing out.
I really loved the way you explained why you don’t ingest substances that alter how you feel. I am finding that the feeling I get when I eat foods that are sweet is becoming really uncomfortable as it disconnects me from the natural loveliness I now know so well. This blog is a great reminder that feeling connected to me is sweeter than any taste.
Wow Gayle – it really is obvious that you spent many years hiding your amazing eyes behind those glasses. What a joy it is to see you beaming out at the world with your gorgeous eyes now!
Gayle, you look so beautiful now! Your presence is breath taking. What a blessing for us all that you’re not in hiding anymore : ).
It’s a beautiful story Gayle, it’s amazing to see the change in your photos. The photos are a great reminder of the change you made to your life!
Beautiful to read your journey of self discovery and appreciation Gayle.
How truly lovely to read through this and your story, seeing how you have transformed. The growth and depth that is there from all the loving choices you have made, truly inspiring Gayle.
Beautiful blog Gayle. ‘Before and afters’ tell a great story – in fact your pictures tell not a thousand words but a book to be written. Gayle you are an inspiration to us all.
Your transformation is astonishing. It’s wonderful to be able to see your eyes.
What a great story and photos Gayle. Life’s so much smoother when we allow ourselves to get real and drop the disguises and stuff that our bodies don’t cope with so well. You look great!
Wow Gayle -you came out of hiding 🙂 How beautiful to see you – claimed as a woman and radiating with confidence. I love your words on change – yes people are truly fascinated by it – a very powerful thing that starts with us!
It’s amazing how we put so much effort into trying to be something or someone that is not ourselves to fulfil an image that we believe will make us better than we are when in fact we are already magnificent. So beautiful to see you in your truth Gayle.
Yes, Jonathan, I agree, we do put a lot of effort in to trying to be something or someone. There’s actually much less effort required to just be who we are and to accept ourselves as we are. And then, surprisingly, the journey begins to unfold before us in a new way that doesn’t require trying but still results in constant growth and an increased sense of self and well being. I’m amazed at the change that has happened in the 14 months since that last photo of me was taken. Must be time for a new photo 😉
Such a beautiful and honest blog. The pictorial history does really tell a tale and it is a joy to truly see you now Gayle.
Top blog Gayle. It’s great that you are no longer trying to hide in plain sight. From that shy looking young girl in the first photo to the confident woman in the last photo, the transformation is very inspiring. Thank you for letting us see the real you.
Hi Gayle, thank you for sharing your photos with us all. It is plain to see that you are an amazing women, full of grace, serenity and power in your last picture. Society often talks about how people ‘lose it’ when they get older – this changes that mind set completely, it shows us that this is not the case at all, growing older is not something negative that we resign to, it can be a returning back to who we are through the choices we make.
Wow the difference in your pictures is amazing Gayle. At 63 you look younger and more alive with vitality than you did at 37. There is a wisdom and radiant beauty that just shines through your photo. Serene, claimed and beautiful.
It’s all in the eyes as they say – the gateway to your soul….and how amazing for us all now to be able to see you and truly connect to that bundle of scrummy that you are.
Hello Phil .. I love how someone so much younger can appreciate the self reflection that I’ve written within this blog.
Gayle the way you don’t hold back in diving into the “real” you is also a beautiful expression of the courage, strength and deep honouring that you are willing to explore who you are with. The timelines reflect a journey as well, and I love how even though you have seen and done a great amount you are not resigning yourself to “that’s just the way you are” it feels so…true! You are indeed an inspiration Gayle Cue and you have the voice of an angel.
I Love it Gayle Cue – the ultimate human-interest story.
Yes we all seem to be interested in before and after photos and I guess it’s because we can see the Truth of someone and the change so there is no denying or hiding. It’s there in your face – pun intended !
When I saw your old photos I could see you hiding behind tinted glasses and the last one I could see your eyes and who you are, if you know what I mean. In fact, when I went back, I realised you had glasses on but I never saw that the first time – interesting.
Making lifestyle changes that support us as you say, allows the new You to continue and you never have to go backwards again. Thanks to the life and work of Serge Benhayon my photos are showing me how much I have changed and to really start to Appreciate that my choices led me to this point.
Hi Bina……..I’m looking forward to seeing your photos in the Before and After project!!
Thank you, everyone, for your comments on this article. It is an amazing process to look back on your own life, from the vantage point of the passing years. Even for folks who are much younger, there is still an opportunity to look back at old photos and look past the hairdo and the clothes and even the location. Look into who you were at that stage of life, how were you living? What was your relationship to yourself like? Did you have a sense of your own sacred self?
I love the power and wisdom that shines through in your most recent photo. Thank you, Gayle for sharing, you are inspirational!
Thanks Gayle, I had never seen the connection of wearing glasses and hiding in plain sight. When my arms got too short to read things, and later on when it was cheaper to buy new glasses then a bigger TV was when I chose to see the world clearly and started wearing specks. I had for years small, thin, and always black glasses I could just look over the top of…just like looking over my self built wall I had spent years of creating. My last glasses were a big ones and colourful. Now, I can see the world and others can see the fullness of me in my eyes.
Hello Gayle, for me the most stunning picture is the final one, taken in 2013,
where the true you is shining through!
It is also interesting to see how the 1980s fashions encouraged us to look at
the glasses and not the wearer!
Hi Gayle I love that you are no longer hiding from the world and maybe it’s time for new frameless glasses for me!
Wow, Gayle this is a great blog – and so amazing to feel the clarity you now live with as evidenced by your final photo. I appreciate so much more the role glasses play in the way we are either looking out at the world or in the way we allow others to see us. They can be another form of mimicking & masking or a true expression of our insight. Your honest self-appraisal is inspirational and accessible to us all.
Beautiful Gayle. The light in your eyes for all to see is an inspiration. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you Gayle – inspiring to read, and wow you certainly have blossomed.
An inspirational article Gayle. Looking back at old photographs can be very revealing when we first check on the clothes, hair and outer appearance. When we look through the eyes we can tell so much more about how we may have been hiding from the world and fooling ourselves that no one could really see us – a very lonely place. Your photo age 63 is brimming with openness and appreciation of who you are.
What a fabulous transformation, Gayle – you look so young and gorgeous, its great to see your eyes. I love what you say, “I owe the clarity of heart to learning how to live in my body (not my mind) and feeling what it is like to be living in a body, my body.” What a powerful statement and learning experience it is to feel what is like living in the body and not the mind.
Thanks Gayle – it was great to read your blog, and see the development through your photos and understanding… and what a powerful full stop with the final photo. Its like I can see into the depth of you, and what emanates out is this gentle strength and purpose. Awesome.
Thanks so much for sharing Gayle, another great testament to the Way of the Livingness. Proof of how you and so many people including myself have significantly changed their lives due to the inspiration of Serge, the Benhayon family and Universal medicine.
Hello Kev, Yes, so many people have now had the personal experience of having their lives improve through the Way of the Livingness. I never tire of hearing about one more successful story, even in the simply stated way that you’ve acknowledged the change in yours. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Wow Gayle that is really amazing to see the changes you’ve made on so many levels. Truly glorious.
So lovely to see you Gayle. Your presence and light shines bright. Thank you.
Dear Gayle, seeing you now I am inspired with a big smile on my face. I am 36 and am so so looking forward to reaching 63. Keep on with how you’re living and thank you for sharing.
Hello Shevon…….what a lovely compliment / acknowledgment – for someone at age 36 to look forward to being 63. This is the role we elders can fill. We can reflect to the younger generations that life is still interesting, still full, still exciting, even in our sixties and seventies. Who knows! Maybe even in our eighties. I know a few people in their eighties who are leading the way.
it is truly amazing to see the change in you over the years, to a beautiful woman full of glory. I really like how you talk about hiding in plain sight. So many do it and because of the way they hide in plain sight, they don’t realise they are doing it.
Hello Rebecca, What a lovely surprise your comment was – all these months after publishing this blog. It’s the ripple effect – the ripples still going out, without the original splash ever knowing where the ripples will end up or who they will touch. You’re right, many people are hiding – but do not have the awareness that they are doing so. And all that it takes to see it and change it, is to become aware. It made me ponder on what supports awareness? Stillness. Acceptance. Intention to see truly. I’ll keep practicing. 😉 Thanks for your comment.
How gorgeous to see the truly beautiful woman you are Gayle, emerge from the behind the disguise. Thank you.
Thank you Gayle, your words on pictures are incredibly insightful as are your photos. Your willingness to reveal the true you is a gift to us all and that last photo touched me deeply.
Thank you Gemma. I did find the process of looking back at old photos, with the intention of really seeing what was going on beneath the surface of the picture, very revealing (and joyful). It was like I was witnessing my own life. The distance of time AND not judging what I was seeing is what provided the insight. Your comment that the “last photo touched you deeply” touched me deeply. We just keep going round reflecting to each other.
Gayle you are an inspiration, I love that your glasses now let us see your eyes which are clear and full of joy and playfulness.
Thank you Rachel – for noticing that my eyes are clear. Yours must be too – in order to see mine!
Thank you Amina. I appreciate all the comments made on this blog. The healing, of course, happened as I looked back through my photo albums and truly saw what I had been doing, another layer of healing occurred as I wrote the blog and yet another layer when I felt brave enough to post it on my Facebook page. The comments by readers is pure joy, no further healing needed through acknowledgment or recognition. But the comments are FUN!
You have always been beautiful to me! How wonderful you are living and recognising your beauty. I Love You.
Dearest best friend since I was 18… yes, YOU always did see me as beautiful but even with your constant reminder and reflection, I still didn’t believe you. Wow and ouch. So at last, you and I are on the same page with this one. I am a beautiful woman by divine design and now clear enough to feel it. Thanks for your patience while I got there.
Gayle thank you for sharing this, it is so inspirational. What strikes me is not the glasses but the return to the very feminine, open, and loving presence you are in the current photo, and the sweetness present in the first picture at 16 now has a strength. So, so inspiring!
Thank you for your comments Vanessa. It made me reflect on what true strength feels like. In my younger years, if someone would have asked me if I felt strong – I would likely have said yes because I was determined. I was determined I would have an interesting life. I was determined to be good. All that determination had a hardness to it and I did equate hardness to strength! Now, I feel a great strength but it has nothing to do with determination or hardness. Strength is about knowing who I am in connection to my Divine heritage and living it every day, in every breath.
Inspirational, thanks Gayle – so amazing to feel your expansion in how you see and are seen.
Thanks for seeing me, Denise. 😉
I loved seeing the progression through different stages of your life, the photos tell it all don’t they?! How beautiful you are now, looking straight at the camera, blue eyes able to be seen and looked into, looking out from a joyful place!
An absolute inspiration, Gayle. You appear, and feel, so clear and beautiful in your last photo, so open and comfortable in the knowledge of who you are, and therefore who you present to the world. Thank you.
I see nobility in your face at age 63; I see the expression of the self responsibility you have chosen.
It’s a joy to read your blog Gayle, and a great revelation of what old photographs may reveal to us, if we but study them without judgement.
Yes, it was amazing even to myself that I was able to look back through old photo albums and not let my harsh inner critic have a say. There is so much more joy in life if we can observe rather than judge!
Woao, what a beautiful woman you are, age 63! That last picture is amazing, such an open face and so much light shining through.
Gayle, I loved this piece and yes the photos say it all. You are no longer hiding – you are in full view of us all.
Hi Sally… I think everyone is familiar with the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”… so as you point out “the photos say it all”. Another reason we are all intrigued with the before and after stories.
Very inspiring to feel how you are opening up once again to the world and letting yourself shine once again. We are all very fortunate of such an amazing expression. Thank you Gayle.
I appreciate you reminding me – with those two little words “once again” – that it is me RETURNING to my glory. 😉
This is a truly inspirational read, and how lovely it is to see you in your absolute glory shining through your un-tinted glasses!