Our physical appearance has not a single thing to do with what real beauty means, but the world around us often tells us otherwise. We are taught to invest a majority of the opinions we form about ourselves and others upon the exterior and set standards just the same. The media presents us with an idea of beautiful, and it’s all too easy to feel unworthy when we don’t quite match up.
I’ve found myself one to preach to others a completely different mentality than I find myself living. I will be the first to stop a friend mid-sentence the second they condemn themselves as anything less than radiant and amazing. But anything from stubborn acne to feeling poorly about my body can send me into a spiral of unworthiness that no kind words can remove me from. And until recently, I have felt extreme guilt about the “easy to love yourself” façade I feel I often present.
Because the truth is, we all have days where we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, zooming into to each and every flaw and imperfection with laser focus. So recently, I’ve begun to challenge myself to value myself on a new scale, one often unused when we decide who is gorgeous and who isn’t.
You’ve heard this before, and you’ll hear it again – it is simply and solely up to you to decide what you find beautiful.
Now, answer this with one added requirement – not a single standard can be physical. Would you value your laugh or the way you choose to find the beauty in others? What about your kindness, intelligence, the way you lift yourself out of rough days and others out of them as well? Or how about your toughness, loyalty, and the very fact that God has made you perfectly imperfect in the most magnificent of ways?
When I shift my heart to see all the things I possess that can’t be bought or applied through cosmetics, the less I feel the need to match up to whatever image I see on the cover of a magazine or on Instagram’s popular feed. Sure, these women are beautiful, but that shouldn’t have the ability to make us feel like we aren’t. It’s viewing ourselves in a timeless manner, the root of who we are beyond any appearance, which lets us see ourselves through His eyes. For all that we are, not all we imagine ourselves to lack.
The old quote of never judge a book by its cover is true. Why limit your unique and magnificent story, chapters of your growth, characters whom have shaped you and struggles you have triumphed down to a cover? Next time it feels easier to feed into what you find a flaw, remember the one who made you finds you more than beautiful, and it is simply our duty to love ourselves all the same.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
-Philippians 4:8
