Real Beauty

No matter who you look to, someone is always going to find something wrong with the way you are. I don't mean this in a negative way; it's just that everyone has a different opinion on what "normal" is. The general opinion, however, is that you aren't good enough. If you're curvy, you need to lose 50 pounds. If you're stick straight you need to work out like crazy so you can get those v-cut, sexy abs that you absolutely need. In today's world, so much emphasis is put on what we look like that people have stopped caring about who we are, and more importantly: our character. There is so much pressure on girls (especially in their early teens) to fit in and look like everyone else. Thing is, you were born with your body and you can't really change anything about it unless you get some extreme plastic surgery, and I can pretty much guarantee that will only make it worse.

{My beautiful sister, the perfect example of everything in this post.}

When I was an early teen, there were certain girls that I looked up to, mostly because they had nice clothes and were skinny. I always thought that if I could just look like them, my life would somehow be so much better than it was. I thought they had everything. As a junior college, I started working out like a maniac, I'm talking 2-3 hours a day. Looking perfect was in my grasp, and I could soon see myself passing up all my competition when I was fit, muscular, tan, and had the perfect closet of clothes. Then I came home for the summer. There's no fully-equipped gym, no tanning bed, and the cows don't really care if my jeans are Rock Revivals or Miss Me, so I just leave them in the closet. The biggest wake-up call came to me when I realized (took me long enough) that God doesn't care what I look like. He cares what I act like. Those girls that I idolized growing up did have everything....in the world's eyes. But when we get to the pearly gates, I don't think anyone is gonna let us in based on what brand of clothes we wear or what shade of skin we have.
I hope this didn't sound negative, I'm just saying it the way I see it. Truth is I just wanted to tell you all one thing. If you get nothing else out of this post, just know that you are fine the way you are. Work out to feel good, not to lose weight. Let the sun kiss your skin so you can feel warm, not so you can be tan. Wear what makes you feel beautiful, not what makes others see you as being in style. I can assure you your self-confidence will double when you start trying to please God instead of the world.