Beautiful Women

I have this huge problem with how society has raised generation after generation of American women. For all I know this problem is a world-wide epidemic, but I can only speak from the vantage point of my small corner of Texas...and from where I stand this problem is an ugly blemish on humanity.

The problem is this: women do not see their inherent beauty. Is it the media images we are bombarded with? The way our mothers raised us? The way other women act and treat us? Who knows WHY, but it is a serious problem and we are all guilty of contributing to it at one point or another.

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a father who loved my mother deeply and always talked about her beauty -- at a size 6 or a size 14. I am also fortunate enough to be married to a man who is just as smitten with me...at a size 6 or a size 14. But do I see my beauty? Hell no. To hear me describe myself, you'd think I was an inhabitant of Middle Earth.

I am not just talking about physical beauty, although that is part of it. I am talking about the inner beauty and fire that is a God-given gift to every woman. We spend too much time covering our spots and trying to look a certain way that we forget to nurture the best parts of ourselves. The parts that make us phenomenal friends, mothers, sisters and lovers. We spend too much time talking to each other about what we need to do to look better and too little time talking to each other about what we need to do to nurture our beautiful souls.

I work with 4 women. They are all beautiful in their own way and for reasons they probably do not know. One is 80 years old, one is a size 2, one is a beauty queen, and one swears she weighs over 300. All BEAUTIFUL. And it has NOTHING to do with the way they look.

Tell the women in your life they are beautiful. Tell strangers at the grocery store or the mall. Tell your mother, your grandmother, your friend, your aunt, your wife and your little sister. Actually speak the words to them. REFUSE to further perpetuate the myth that beauty is found on the cover of a magazine and dare to see the inherent beauty in EVERY women you know.

Next blog...extolling the virtues of makeup and shoes! :)