Category: true beauty

crippled by comparison…

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We are living in a world where we are constantly being allured by images and ideologies. More than ever in history, advancements in technology have caused a tidal wave of influence in what we believe we are, what we presume we should be and what we should attain to strive for. It has become a daily grind of subconscious comparison, for those of us that find ourselves connected to devices, mainstream and social media. Am I eating all the right foods? Do I have all the right style? Am I parenting like that mom? Does my house look like that blogger? Does my life look and feel like all those being portrayed?

We do not even realize it, but our true identities are being crippled by how the world is telling us to look, live and feel. If we fill our minds with everything everyone else is doing, we cloud over all we were created to be as individuals. I spend my fair share of time on social media outlets, no lie, many of the ideas I see inspire me. There are also times I have to dial it back a notch. Getting the perfect beach waves in my hair, styling my bathroom just like that one on Pinterest, or finding peace from endless quotes online does not totally define me. What defines us still has to come from within. I fear that mixed messages are always intruding our thoughts from the world of media. Mixed messages like we should all be ourselves, but we should all wear this style for this season and get this haircut of the moment.

Comparing ourselves to what we see in every form of media, has become an overwhelming reality. It has translated to easily extending our comparisons to the people around us. In the end, comparing ourselves will cripple us. It will overshadow who you were created to be. I hope that we can find healthy confidence in who we are, be at peace with ourselves so that we can grow in what has already been sown into our existence, and relinquish all those pressures that fog our judgements. Comparing ourselves with everything and everyone around us will cripple us with envy and jealousy. It is a great thing to be inspired and share fun ideas, we just need to watch how far we run with it to protect our hearts, minds, and own individuality.

∼live your journey true∼

One of those big life questions…

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Something is always on my mind. My brain never stops thinking. There are times I find myself asking the oddest questions- like how did someone come up with the word ‘purple,’ for example. I know that sounds like I am crazy, and my husband chuckles at me when I bring up these weird questions that float around my brain. With that said, I have days when really serious questions cannot escape me. They twirl around my mind throughout the day, and I get stuck on them until an answer, or somewhat of a conclusion satisfies my curiosity. Today I am parked on a big one, a really big life question. Are you ready for it? Here it is…

What would the world look like if everyone valued life?

Oh me, oh my you say! Perhaps you feel that there is no answer to that because it is just not possible. Well, lets explore this a little, you see this is where my think tank likes to take me on a daily basis.

If everyone valued life, it would have to have a starting point. That starting point would get a solid footing if it began with ourselves. If we could know our value, feel meaningful, feel loved, feel purpose, perhaps we would all value and respect ourselves well enough to make wiser choices. From there, what would that look like to those around us? If we all valued our lives, how would that extend to the people around us? How would we then treat our parents and siblings, our friends and acquaintances, our partners and children? This extends to a vast array of possibilities to overcome challenges in our personal lives and the whole wide world.

If you truly value your life, would it be enough to treat your body with more respect and not harm it with destructive lifestyle choices.

If you truly value your life, would it extend to valuing other peoples lives enough to give more, to love more, to care more.

If you truly value your life, would it filter through to how you care and show concern for everything around you- even the planet you live on. What would that value extend to? The possibilities are endless.

The responsibility of this value is more than one human can take on. However, I do not doubt with one ounce of my being, that if everyone started with one step at a time- immense changes would ripple effect to influence the whole world. It all comes back to the root of valuing your life- that you have a purpose. You are not here by mistake. If the human race did not have value to this earth, we wouldn’t be here in the first place- bottom line!

Now comes the really difficult, personal question- what does your life currently look like around you? How healthy are the relationships around you? If it all feels like chaos, perhaps a good place to start is asking yourself if you truly value your own life? Once you can start developing that value, you may start to see drastic change in how you treat all those around you. The circumstances and relationships in your life that seem cloudy and difficult, may begin to become clear and more concise.

I come back to that question, swirling around in my head…

What would the world look like if everyone valued life?

My personal answer: peaceful and beautiful

Okay, I understand that answer is very Miss America sounding! Yet it is true- I feel that if we valued life more personally, we would have more peace with ourselves and with others all around us. That looks like a beautiful world to me. My heart is sad for those that do not want peace in their lives, in the end, all I see, is that they lack value for their own life. Therein lies the challenge- to encourage value in ourselves, and in those all around us. For when we discover and nourish that value- life flourishes with true beauty.

∼live your journey true∼

photo credit: paper castle

a word to my girls…

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my heart is constantly filled with awe and wonder at these little blessings in my life. as a mother, my heart is flooded with emotion for my babies. all that said, i understand that my babies will one day grow into women. if i could in-still in them a word or two, it would be these…

be brave, yet cautious

be adventurous, yet use common sense

be beautiful, yet humble

be independent, yet vulnerable

be bold, yet gracious

and above it all, remember that i love you and you are worth more than you know- protect your worth!

∼live your journey true∼

 

Concerned or Confident

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I have been blessed with two lovely daughters. It is a parenting mission for me to set an example to them of what makes a person truly beautiful. Over the years, there is something I’ve noticed in myself and others that reflects what is inside your heart. It has much to do with what concerns a person. What we are concerned about all the time, or what we worry about, can reveal the true colours of our character more than we realize. I have seen very attractive woman sit around and speak very ugly words about other women. Some women that the world may view as not worthy of a magazine cover, have been proven to have beauty and confidence that I admire deeply. It can all go vice versa as well. The bottom line is that no matter what we look like, what comes out of our heart and our mouths can really reveal the truth about who we are.

If we over concern ourselves with how we look all the time, what is that reflecting to everyone around us. A common comment I have heard is “I would never wear a bikini.” When asked why, the response has been, “I have too much pride,” or “I don’t have body for one.” Those responses concern me- it is a window into someone’s soul of insecurity. There seems to be an unruly amount of expectation on women to look like a fitness model in order for it to be “okay” for the them to wear a bikini in our culture. True beauty means having true confidence in who you are inside, not being concerned with how you look in a bikini. Confidence has zero to do with you having too much pride to bear your imperfections in a bikini. Confidence has everything to do with owning your imperfections in whatever you wear, including a bikini if you want to.

Having confidence is not a right of passage to display ourselves in an inappropriate way- there is still a time and place for everything. There is balance to it all. What is important is our attitude toward ourselves, and toward others. Fat shaming, skinny shaming, bullying, low self esteem is all coming from an ugly part of the heart. I’m not interested at all in teaching my girls that it’s okay to think lowly upon themselves or others for how they look. It should not be the place we concentrate our concerns.  We all have a responsibility to take care of our bodies. Hopefully we can encourage each other in a healthy lifestyle with balance, without criticism and judgement.

So if you are more comfortable in a bikini, bearing your stretch marks and mommy tummy, then do it knowing that your confidence comes from within.

If you are more comfortable in a parka at the beach because you don’t want the world to see your body- then do it, but don’t shame someone else for having confidence to do something you lack self esteem in.

As woman we should concern ourselves with building and encouraging healthy confidence and self esteem. That is true beauty. Concerning ourselves with how everyone else looks or how “bad” we look, creates an ugly attitude. It teaches woman nothing but to be bound to how they look, not who they are.

We need to take a close look at what is deep in our thoughts about ourselves and others. When we can start to change our concerns to who we are on the inside, true beauty will radiate from within.

∼live your journey true∼

Just say yes I can!

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It is so inspiring to look at before and after weight loss pictures on social media. There is an abundant amount of encouragement that comes from hearing or reading people’s life stories of triumph from a time of despair. It is no secret that we will face challenges in life. How motivating to know that we can achieve what we need to, because others have done it before us.

Be inspired by those on the journey to accomplish their goals. Use their success as fuel to launch your dreams, instead of looking at them with a jealous heart.

Just say yes I can, instead of making excuses in life. Whatever your dreams and goals are, put your heart and strength into achieving it. Know that it is possible to overcome all of those obstacles in your life that you desire to. We get one life to live, and one body to live it in- so live well. When we put all our heart and mind into our aspirations, great results will be accomplished.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

All this means; giving up those addictions that drag you down.

All this means; finding hope when you are in your deepest place of despair.

All this means; living a life of health versus eating your way to destruction.

All this mean; surrendering your way to God’s way.

It is time to say yes to life, to living, to having purpose, to ceasing the moment, to experiencing true fulfillment. Say yes to walking the journey that will bring you to where you need to be- the place that God intended you to be. God desires that we be healthy in every aspect of our lives; body, mind, and spirit. God wants us to be free from whatever weighs us down and has control over us. God longs for us to say yes to the beautiful life and fulfillment he intended for us.

Just say yes! I can do all this with the help of God’s hand.

∼live your journey true∼

 

Never, ever give up!

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imageSitting across the table at a dinner party some years ago, a well accomplished business man, 25 years my senior said “the greatest lesson I learned in life is that you never give up.” He went on to talk about being successful, that no matter what you do, never give up.

Maybe it is every day, or every week, every month, or every year- you find yourself trying to change something about yourself. You may want to change how you feel, your health, what you think, how you behave, the quality of your relationships, or what you do. Time and time again you find yourself failing, as if you are caught in a rip tide being pulled under.

What gives? How do you change? As the words of that gentleman, always ring in my head…

In order to succeed at anything, you never, ever give up!

No matter how long it takes, one day the change will become reality.

When you feel down that you do not see the progress you want, do not give up!

When you stumble and fall, climb back up to your feet and try, try again!

If people are cutting you down, cover your ears and change the words you can’t, to you can and you will!

If unstable circumstances thrash your plans, remember it is mind over matter. Adapt and stay focused!

Never, ever give up!

For those who persevere see dreams become reality. Those who stay the course see obstacles become obsolete. Those who never quit, rise like warriors from the ashes. They gain wisdom, character, and victory because they never, ever gave up!

∼live your journey true∼

Grasping True Beauty

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How do you measure beauty? What does true beauty really mean to you? This is a topic our culture is overwhelmed with. There is so much confidence and lack there of, that encompasses beauty. At this time in my life, I have come to recognize that beauty is a journey. It takes time to be beautiful. It takes all the trials and errors of life. Experiences and circumstances can enhance your beauty or diminish it. We are all given a chance to be beautiful, because we have been created. When you really think about the miracle of a human growing in the womb – all I can say is that it is beautiful. The gift of life is a truly beautiful thing. You see, many people in the world will tell you that beauty only has to do with how you look. Lets be straight, most of those people are trying to sell us something. Perhaps if we remembered that when we look at magazine covers, commercials, and ads for fashion, make-up, and beauty products – we could maybe gain a little perspective that it is a lot of smoke and mirrors. Meaning that, it is an illusion. An illusion to make us believe that beauty is one dimensional – only based on what you look like. I challenge you to grasp what is beyond that. That beauty has much more to do with who you are as a person, than how you look. I have met many people that are visually aesthetic to the eye, yet hold no substance beyond that. I have also met the opposite, people that the world would say do not cut it physically, but behold the most beauty from their spirits. Beauty is a very hard topic to deal with because there is an entire mass mind shift that has to occur in our world to understand what beauty really is. Is there a fun side to beauty that is external? Of course there is, but it is not meant to over take the totality of beauty. That it has more dimensions that come from your mind and spirit, which is the more important side of beauty.

This is a wonderful definition of beauty…

“the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).” ∼ dictionary.com

Even tho beauty does partake in pleasing visual stimulation, that is not the whole of it. There is more to it than meets the eye. Pleasure and satisfaction to our minds come from more than a pretty face or a sexy body. A giving spirit, a grateful heart, pleasant attitudes, joy, peace, and freedom bring beauty to our souls as well. I want to measure beauty in myself and in others beyond what my eye sees in the physical. I wish to measure beauty from within my soul. We are more beautiful as we grow and mature into the people that God desires us to be. When we carry love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as part of who we are – that is true beauty.

∼live your journey true∼