Welcome to 2016! The year where your hair has to be down to your waist and your eyebrows have to be perfectly trimmed to for you to be considered "the perfect girl."
What happened to individuality? What happened to enjoying looking different and being proud of it?
We are constantly being told what is “acceptable” and what is “in style,” and we feel as though we have to exactly measure up to feel as though we are worth anything.
“If only my hair were longer. If only my nose were smaller. If only I had the blessed, ever-loving thigh gap. If only I didn’t look like me…”
Boys, welcome to the inside of a girl’s mind every time she looks in the mirror. Us girls see every flaw, every imperfection. That one little thing that may keep us from looking “perfect” is all we will see staring back at us.
This is no way to go through out every day, deleting the 50 selfies that look exactly the same just to find the "perfect one" and going through endless filters to find the one that hides something we don’t want to be emphasized has become the norm.
Ladies, I say we stand up. We get mad. We break the mold our brains are being poured into. We throw off our self-consciousness because we don’t look like a model whose picture has been through hours of Photoshop.
You want to try that new shade of lipstick? Go for it! You want to rock a crop top? You go, girl! You want to dye your hair a funky color? Yes!
I’m so tired of looking through my Instagram and feeling like I’m seeing the same face a hundred times. I want to see people that stand out and are sick of fitting in. People that are willing to stay up and say, “I am beautiful!” I want to see boldness and dazzling self-confidence.
You are created to be uniquely you in every single way. Every facet of your personality and style was created to be you. The Bible says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Each and every human being to walk this planet has their very own way of perceiving things. No two people are exactly alike. Our very fingerprints are unique to us.
I want you to leave your fingerprints on the world. Your unique, beautifully flawed fingerprints everywhere you go. I want you to realize that you are unique and no one else will ever be who you are. You have talents and gifts and abilities that other people cannot even comprehend. You have a way that you can uniquely express yourself and reach out to others in a way that no one else can!
Every day we are given a chance to develop more of our character and spirit. We are given 86,400 seconds a day to change, to grow and to be who we are.
I will end my rant with a few wise words from my friend. She once told me that every day we look in the mirror and see the same things. We become accustomed to our faces and our bodies so that all we can do is make a list of the flaws. We become blind to our beauty. But we will never know how beautiful we are in the eyes of strangers. So keep your head high and be proud of who you are.
