Monday, March 21, 2011

Trust Me, You are Beautiful

In my 35 years, I have had the privilege of  knowing many amazing women as I have traveled throughout my life. Some I am lucky enough to say, are still in my life, whether a daily fixture or the kid of friend that weaves in and out, picking up exactly where we left off without a hiccup. Some I have lost along the way, but I still think of them fondly as having brought so much to my life and taught me so many important lessons. Unfortunately, time and again, these beautiful women forget just how beautiful they truly are.

I am not sure where the doubt creeps in in our lives as girls that tells us we are not good enough. That nasty voice in our heads that makes us doubt our worth and our beauty. It manifests itself in different ways; some of us eat too much, some of us don't eat enough. Some of us settle for Mr. Wrong, some of us are afraid of getting hurt and never give Mr.Right a chance when he comes along. Some of us lay in bed at night going over everything we did wrong that day and worry about what will happen tomorrow. But how many of us look in the mirror and congratulate ourselves on how amazing we really are?
 
To all my friends (and family) out there and to women and girls all over the world, please listen to me and really hear what I am saying - you are beautiful and you are amazing. All of those little things that make you who you are, the ones that you probably obsess about and hate, are the very things that make you unique and special. Everyone is your life should appreciate what makes you who you are, and if they don't then  they aren't worth your time. Your time is valuable, spend it wisely. Surround yourself with people who love you and want you to be happy. Be happy, life is too short and your happiness will spread to your children, your husband and your friends and family. Plus, it feels better to be happy. Most of the crap we obsess about is just that, crap and all it does is wear you down.
 
Somehow we all think that if only I could do this...then I would be happy. Fill in the blank - be skinnier, be prettier, have more money, keep my house looking nicer, eat less, workout more, look like her, have a marriage like hers (you now her, the perfect one we all covet being even though we don't actually know what is behind her closed doors)...And then what? Would it still be good enough? Probably not...for whatever reason, most of us are programmed to want something other than we have and are convinced that that is our key to happiness.

Trust me, you have everything you need to be happy. I have loved (and still do) so many amazing women who do not love themselves and it makes me sad every time to see their pain and doubt. You are amazing and special and worthy of love. You are a brilliant friend, sister, daughter, wife, mother. What you do everyday makes a world of difference to so many people even if you don't see it. Women have amazing strength and beauty that make the world go round, seriously.

If you do only one thing today, take a minute to reward yourself for everything you did today that made someone else's world better (I guarantee your 4 year old things you are a princess and couldn't live without the hug you gave them today - if only you could see yourself through your child's eyes). Take a bubble bath, with a glass of wine and a candle. Curl up in a cozy chair and read your new favorite book without any guilt that you need to change the laundry. Sign up for a new yoga or dance class and relish in the fact that it is completely selfish me time you need more of. And when you wake up tomorrow, read this again cause it will be true tomorrow too.

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