We are all made uniquely beautiful.

Our country focuses and has talks about self esteem, and yet has a high percentage of people who get plastic surgery or enhancements.  I find this ironic.  Around the globe, certain traits are deemed beautiful and people (both men and women) strive to have those traits from skin color, eye shape, noses, chins, cheekbones, and body frame.  In America, television, the media, and the sex industry tells our youth and adults what is beautiful.  So our youth and adults strive to have the body that we see on the screen.  What they fail to realize is that with magazines bodies and faces are altered by computer programs.  That flawless look is obtained by the skill of an artist with a deft hand.  On television an actor or actress may have great bone structure but still will go through an hour or more of make up time in order to look the way we see them.  Is this natural?  No of course not, and it is one of the reasons I can walk around the mall and see women wearing what I call "stage make up".  Everything is so caked on and flawless, and their eye lashes are about a half inch long which to me is distracting.  Whatever happened to make up just enhancing the natural beauty that is there?  Why is it deemed beautiful that women look like they are going on stage?  I know this is just my view, and I do know that there are still people out there that still like the "natural" look versus the "stage" look. 

 

Will we ever get away from superficiality and what we see on the outside?  No, not really but it's about time we accept the inherent beauty in each person.  I believe that differences are what makes a person beautiful and unique.  Why do we all have to look a certain way to be deemed beautiful?  I had a friend ask me if I would ever consider getting surgically enhanced.  My answer is no.  I like my body the way it is, and I also accept that this is how my Creator made me.  The media seems to be dictating what is "normal" and their "normal" is body altering.  Why are we buying into it?  Bleaching, waxing, enhancements, injections, breaking bones, surgery, etc.  God made us with purpose and the way He wanted us to look.  Why are we questioning/altering His marvelous work?  It reminds me of the verse in Romans 9:20, "But rather "O man, who are you who answer back to God? Shall the thing molded say to him who molded it, Why did you make me thus?"

I do not want to conform to what the media deems as beautiful, and while dating I want a man to accept me for who I am and what I look like.  I hate to think that women and men's perception of "beauty" is attributed to what the media is portraying.  That we expect people to "look" a certain way because that's what we see in magazines and on our televisions.  There are things that we can control like our level of fitness and trimness, and other things that we cannot control like our bone structure, and physical features.  I think if a person wants to get surgery then they should ask themselves why they are doing it.  If they truly think it would be life altering or make them truly feel better about themselves then fine, but if it is to conform to what the world deems as beautiful then that is another thing.  I think we will all still go through moments of insecurity about our physical appearance, but I do hope that we can take pride in the beauty that we were all born with and see that in others as well.  

2014 - focusing on gratefulness and thankfulness!

After talking to a few friends prior to the start of the new year I realized even more that we have a choice in life in regards to our outlook and happiness.  I have seen friends wish for things that don't happen and what results is bitterness, anger, sadness, and sometimes a "woe is me" attitude.  I think we all experience these emotions in life when things don't happen the way we want them to.  I've had moments where I'm down and I always tell myself that I'm allowed to feel that way for a few days, but after that I need to get with it.  No, it's not always easy and I'm blessed to have friends and family to help cheer me up and to pray for me.  I can say that having their support and prayers has meant the world to me over the years.  

I have read some of my friend's Facebook posts that center on the negative, and I've always thought, "Instead of focusing on the negative, why don't you name one thing you are grateful/thankful for?"  I thought it was a great idea myself so I started a thankful journal where I would write one thing that I was thankful for each day.  I can attest to the fact that it does make a difference to find something that makes you grateful each day.  So while driving to my friend's place on New Year's Eve I thought about my year and everything that I was thankful for.  I thought about my life, the amazing trips I've gone on, all that I experienced in 2013, my friends and family, God in my life, the food I've had the opportunity to eat, and all the simple and small things that make my life wonderful.  

What I realize is that each day is a choice.  A choice to center on what is positive in my life or a choice to center on what I don't have and want.  It is up to me to choose what to focus on.  This doesn't mean I won't have down times or sad times, but it does mean that I can still focus on the little things or big things that I should and can be grateful for.  So I ended 2013 feeling happy and thankful, and I started 2014 feeling the same way.  My hope is that I continue to count my blessings and make the choice to focus on the positive each day.