Beauty Is…

There are many definitions of beauty. Some think it’s the girl on the magazine cover, other’s think it’s the girl they work with who fits into the cutest clothes, or maybe the married woman who has the body of a nineteen-year-old after four kids. But do you ever think that beauty is what you see in the mirror staring back at you?

Do you love your body? When you see you’re reflection are you happy with what you see or do you wish you could change something? Maybe you’d like to alter everything. Your stomach is too fat, your thighs too flabby, your nose is too wide, or skin too damaged. Do you ever look at your reflection and think, “Why am I so ugly?”

I know the reality of these hateful thoughts and words. I’ve been there. In the past, I struggled with anorexia and like a shrapnel wound I’m still picking out the little pieces year by year. Yes, the main wound has healed but the painful little things are harder to get out.

Recently I’ve been making an effort to tell myself I’m lovely. When I think, “Gross, I’m so fat,” I counter that thought with, “No, I’m beautiful.”

Most days I don’t feel beautiful, but I’ve noticed a shift in my thinking. I find myself sometimes believing the words I whisper inside.

Have you ever tried it?

It’s easy. Go to the nearest bathroom—lock yourself in—look I the mirror and whisper, “I am beautiful.”

Maybe it’s too weird to say it, so think it. “I am beautiful.”

Words are powerful. Do you remember some of the nasty things peers said to you in high school? They still hurt sometimes, don’t they? The words we say hold an immense amount of power over us. We need to believe and profess that we are beautiful because after we hear it enough times we may come to believe it.

When you were a little girl you probably believed when everyone said you were the prettiest girl around. But as you grew older negative words were pounded into your head by family members, peers, or even strangers. They hurt at first, and then you began to believe them.

We need to reverse the damage.

We need to look in the mirror and say, “I am beautiful.”

We don’t have to look like Hollywood celebrities or high paid models. We each hold inside of us a unique piece that nobody else has and that is what make us who we are. It’s what makes us beautiful.

Believing in beauty is much harder than it sounds. Sure, it seems like looking in the mirror and saying it would be easy. Heck, some days you might feel and look great! “Look out world here I come,” you might say before turning off the bathroom light.

But when the makeup is off and you stand naked in front of the mirror what do we tell ourselves?

Believing in beauty is a journey you should take. It’s hard, but don’t you think you’re worth it?

Begin to believe that beauty isn’t the girl we see trying on a swimsuit in the mall—but is, in fact, the girl staring back at you in the mirror?

Beauty is the smile you give your sister.

Beauty is the look you give your husband.

Beauty is the way you hold your child.

Beauty is the patience you show your family.

Beauty is the way you make dinner for someone you love.

Beauty is going out of your way for a friend.

Beauty is what you see in the mirror.

Will you stand in the bathroom and say the words, “I am beautiful?”