Being Honest

"Some people are beautiful.

Not in looks.

Not in what they say.

Just in what they are."

-Author Unknown (to me)

We all want to be something other than what we are. We want to be taller or shorter. We want to be skinnier or curvier (is that a word?). We want to have blue eyes or brown eyes or green eyes. Our lips aren't full enough (or too full), our jawline not defined enough. Our skin isn't clear or tanned or its not a pretty complexion.

Being completely honest here, I have to say I think the same things. Some of the stuff that runs through my mind is as follows:

"Gosh my face is so broken out."

"I wish my nose was smaller."

"My hair is such a boring color and it's sooooo dry."

"My thighs are too heavy, I really need to work on that."

"I look so dumpy in pictures because I'm too short for my figure."

"I wish my eyes had stayed blue, not changed to this non-decript color."

"My eye shape is so horrible."

"Wow, this shirt makes me look so heavy."

"I'm getting softer around my abdomen, I should do some crunches."

"My teeth are horrible."

And my newest:

"Oh - oh this is just great. I'm already nerdy, I already had glasses and now I have braces too."

No, I haven't been handling the braces/glasses duo cliche very well - it's not that I'm pitching a fit or fussing and screaming about it, but all I can think is how ulra horrible it looks on me. I don't feel like I'm one of those cute vintage-y girls who can pull it off.

please ignore the random add the the bottom of this photo

Yeah - I think all that. I look at pictures of teeny girls and think "wow I'm dumpy". I see a cute dress, fall in love and then try it on and think "if only I were skinnier this would look good". I'm sure that there isn't a person on the planet who hasn't thought something at some point was wrong with them. We wouldn't be human if we didn't think things like that. Sometimes we've wondered if the person we had a crush on would like us better "if...". We've wondered if the other person was more popular simply because they were prettier (in our opinion). Sometimes we look and look at the girl/guy who seemly has all the dates and everyone likes them and wonder "Why? Why is everyone in love with him/her? Is he/she that much better looking than me? How ugly am I?". If you haven't thought anything like any of this then I am begging you, please tell me your secret!

So we need to come up with a solution right? I've thought of a few, but it doesn't seem to always work. Like when I think "My hair is so awful" I should correct myself and say "Well at least I have hair". Not that you can't look beautiful without hair, you can. Some of the most beautiful people in the world are those who have lost their hair due to illness or such, but I'm trying to make a point about counting blessings. When I think "My waist is getting soft" I should think "Well that can always be fixed with a bit of work". But I don't always think that. I beat myself up, I tear myself down. I forget that an all - perfect God has designed me. That he made my nose just the right size for me, that he made me shorter than some, that he made my eyes the color they are. We should be happy with how God made us. I'm not saying "No make-up, God made you perfect". Yes, you are beautiful with out make up, you do not need it, but sometimes it's nice to wear it, like when we paint a house to make it look all nice. And no, please no heavy make up. Make up should be used to enhance, when we paint a house we still see the house underneath, the paint is there to enhance the looks. I'm also not saying "Don't worry about working out or eating healthy". We should take care of our bodies, but we need to also accept we may never look like a model, that we may be bigger boned so its ok if we're never a size 2 or 4 or even 6. Its ok to be 8 or 10 or 12. Heck its ok to be who you are, whatever that maybe, whatever size that maybe. You are handsome. You are beautiful.

Just being me,