We are all beautiful
In today’s society beauty is measured by appearance and weight. Magazines and television show slender women with flawless facial features, fancy styled hair and perfect curves as the model of beauty. Many young women and even adult women struggle to live up to this definition of beauty, but it is more than the looks. It’s much deeper than what is just on the outside. How would you define beauty? Who is beautiful? Does everyone have beauty?
Beauty cannot be defined just by looks and the perfect body. It comes from the inside out. God does not make ugly people. He puts beauty in everything he makes including humans. It’s a combination of many things like personality, characteristics, body features and even flaws. You don’t have to look perfect or be skinny to be beautiful. I’m heavy. I have struggled with my weight and self-esteem since childhood. My brother, two sisters and parents have always been skinny. I felt out of place compared to them. It didn’t seem fair that I was the only big one. My brother joked about it. He was just being a normal brother, but I took it to heart. My father lectured me and still does about losing weight. I began to think of myself as an ugly, fat slob. I couldn’t find anything I liked about myself. The kids at school insulted my clothes, my looks and even my weight. I wasn’t much into styling my hair, wearing makeup and jewelry. I was and in a way still am, a tomboy. The more kids put me down the more I began to hate how I looked. I thought of myself as a hideous pig. I tried to improve my looks to fit in, but unfortunately my attempts made me feel uncomfortable and even more ridiculous looking. I even tried hairstyles where I had to use curling irons and hairspray, but that only made me more frustrated. I hated spending a lot of time only to make my hair look worse. Makeup itched and ear rings caused my ears to become infected. I wanted to be beautiful, but each of my efforts failed.
I envied my older sister. She was in-style before the kids in our small town knew what was in-style was. She was skinny and had a beautiful face. She spent hours doing her hair and even on her bad hair days she looked good. She wore her makeup with class. I wanted to be beautiful like her, but inside I felt ugly. I could never be like my big sister. It wasn’t until I met my husband that I learned what beauty is. He doesn’t care if I wear makeup or jewelry. He likes my simple jeans and t-shirt. He doesn’t care about my weight. He loves me for who I am inside out. He loves me for my ability to care for others, for my sense of humor, for my kind heart, for my simplicity, for how I listen and much more. He tells me I don’t need makeup to be beautiful, I am beautiful the way God made me.
We all are beautiful. Not just by looks, but by what’s within our hearts and souls. Don’t just judge people by what you see on the outside, look at what’s inside too. Heavy, skinny, medium built or whatever size you are, you are beautiful. Your hair can be short, frazzled, long or spiked, you are still beautiful. You can wear raggy clothes, you can wear out of style clothes, you can wear a dress, you can wear jeans or whatever you want and be beautiful. You are beautiful just because you are you. Whatever makes you who you are inside out is what makes you shine. So don’t judge beauty by just what you see. Get to know a person first.
If you’re worried that you are an ugly person, well you’re not. You are brimming with all kinds of wonderful qualities. Don’t try to live up to a standard, be yourself. Pick out the things you like about yourself in the inside and on the outside. Know that you are beautiful; there is no such thing as ugly. Celebrate your beauty. Remember we all are beautiful.
