The Beauty in Me

“A woman’s beauty is in her humanity, in her great capacity to love in all its forms.”  ~ Me

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Stupid

I heard that word every day from the time I was eleven years old, until the day I decided to take back my control and my life. I was seventeen.

Beautiful

I heard that word too often from people who twisted it to mean something else entirely.  Something dirty.  Something ugly.  Something to be ashamed of.

In the years since, I have struggled with the emotions such misused words can conjure:  Shame.  Guilt. Anger.  Yearning.

Then something amazing happened.  I realized I am beautiful.

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.”

~ Sam Levenson

My journey didn’t happen overnight.  It’s been seventeen years in the making, and it continues today.

It has been full of lessons like trusting my abilities, believing I have something of value to offer, trusting and believing in others, accepting help from others and helping them in return.

There’ve been precious few in my life who have shown me what real beauty looks like.  Two of those are my daughters.  They are as different as two people can be, but both are stunning examples of true beauty:  Loving.  Kind.  Strong.  Honest.

My youngest especially excels at honesty; she has no problem speaking her mind ~ at any time, to anyone 😉

Watching them grow, I am mindful of my past, careful not to make the same mistakes.  At times, it has been a challenge to battle my demons and keep my girls safe from them, though I am thankful every single day for the opportunity.

“Beauty shouldn’t be about changing yourself to achieve an ideal or be more socially acceptable. Real beauty, the interesting, truly pleasing kind, is about honoring the beauty within you and without you. It’s about knowing that someone else’s definition of pretty has no hold over you.”

~Golda Poretsky

Brilliant

This is a word that is spoken often in my house.  I tell my daughters how brilliant they are every chance I get.  And in times of doubt, I remind myself that I am brilliant.

Beautiful

I am quick to tell my girls how beautiful they are when they are loving and kind, when they are honest with themselves and others.  They are growing up understanding that beauty is much more than what is simply reflected in the mirror.

My girls gave me the courage to look myself in the mirror, and face my troubled past.  Then, one day I realized I no longer fought for just them ~ I fought for myself, as well.

Because I’m a beautiful person, inside and out.

So are you.

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So talk to me. What is your idea of inner beauty? What makes a woman beautiful?