I recently heard a talk by speaker Megan Mastroianni, and she touched upon many points that I think a lot of women, including myself, really need to hear more of. As women in today's society, we can easily become too focused on what we look like. After all, that is all society seems to be talking about. We can't help but notice with all the commercials on T.V. geared towards looks and the magazines popping out in front of your face at the grocery store. It can be easy to get wrapped into trying to create our own images, rather than owning the image we already have that is rooted in our identity. So much stress and anxiety come from trying to hold onto an image that inevitably changes with time and society's whims, so let's skip all of that and hold fast to our true identity that never changes, which is that we have been made in the image of God, that we truly are princesses of the King of the Universe!

What Megan emphasized was that true, authentic beauty that radiates starts from within. She mentioned how Mother Teresa was one of the most beautiful women. She may not have been the most beautiful by society's standards, but she certainly was by the standards of love, which is more rooted in the true identity of human beings. So next time you look in the mirror and start to doubt your worth because you feel like you don't measure up to the world's standards remember these words: "Beauty is not found in the mirror; it is found in the soul."

Megan gave a few tips on how to stay rooted in your true identity and to see your beauty truly:

1. Ask God every morning to give you His eyes that you may see yourself the way that He sees you.

2. When you are tempted to think that you are not beautiful, remember the lyrics, "Teach my song to rise to you when temptation comes my way." When you are tempted, sing or pray in those moments and call out the lies and cast them out in the name of Jesus.

3. Remember that in order to be beautiful you do not have to look a certain way.

4. Look in the mirror and proclaim truth! For example, "God calls me His beautiful daughter!"

5. If looking in the mirror leads you into temptation, give up looking in the mirror for a set amount of time, maybe it's a day, a week, or even a month!

6. Smash a scale! I love this one. How awesome would it be to physically denounce the hold that those numbers can have on us! Well, not anymore!

7. Remember that comparison will never help. It is a liar, thief, and steals who you are by trying to make yourself into who you were not created to be. Comparison is always unfair, whether it is to yourself or the person you are comparing yourself to.

8. I also believe that it will help to spend time adoring Jesus in the Eucharist to learn what true beauty is by looking at Beauty itself.

These few tips are super helpful to keep in mind when we begin to feel bad about ourselves. If we remember who we are, we will be able to see that the world's standards can never define us.