I'm always curious what beauty means to others.
This is what beauty means to me...
I do not see your acne, your uneven skin tone, your sparse eyebrows, your wrinkles, your scars, what you think are your imperfections. I see a perfectly imperfect human and it lights my soul. I see you as someone trying to navigate life as best as you can. I see how hard you try. I see you, hear you, and feel you as you come to me and share your most vulnerable stories. I love that about you. I can see your beauty from within.
When I was younger I strived to be thin, have a toned body, blonde hair, a tan, flawless skin, no cellulite. Do you know how stressful that was trying to be perfect? Who's ideal was I trying to live up to anyways? Why did I think I had to "look" a certain way to be accepted and not rejected among my peers and people in general? Who decided what was deemed beautiful? What the heck, man?! Who was I trying to BE?
Certainly not myself and that's very sad.
I tried all the stupid diets and I wasn't even overweight. I starved myself on occasion. I wouldn't eat after 6 at night and would feel guilty if I caved and I was hungry. I felt guilty for wanting the "bad" foods like ice cream and it only made me want them more. I ran 4 miles a day and hated every minute of it. I pretty much tortured myself for the sake of "beauty".
Why?????
I wanted to be accepted and that's what I thought you needed to do to be accepted in this world. It's a very basic human need we have to be accepted. It's exhausting trying to be somebody we're not, yes?
It's not until I got older and wiser that I starting realizing what beauty really is. It comes from within, it's not what you look like it's WHO YOU ARE that matters. I think with age we learn to let go of the things we know don't really matter because of our life experiences. Things get put into perspective when we've lived through some challenging times. Let's face it, you're going to age regardless. Cellulite, wrinkles, sagging, age spots, uneven skin tone, and scars are all going to happen anyways so you might as well embrace it! After all, no one really cares what you look like more than you do!
Beauty is an inside job and it starts with a healthy mindset.
What are the beliefs and stories you're telling yourself about yourself? WHO told you you need to look a certain way? WHY do you think you need to look a certain way? I bet if you did some soul searching you'd figure out why you think the way you do. Maybe your friends influenced you. Or your parents. Or an enemy. Or t.v. Or.....
You are already beautiful just the way you are.
You are worthy. You are enough. You are perfectly imperfect. Zits and all. Yup.
I love this quote from Maya Angelou ~ "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Such a wise woman.
Kristen xo