The Power of Beauty

It's no secret I struggle with my self-esteem.  I blog about it every now and again, in a moment of weakness when the "fat monsters" are climbing out of my closet and into the back pocket of my jeans.  I talk about it to my mom and my husband much more frequently (not specifically in front of our girls, they don't need to know about those things yet.  All they need to know is they are perfect and beautiful. Period.).  I think of it, however on an hourly basis.

I see women I long to look like on TV, in magazines, walking down the street.  I look at my accomplishments and think of them as small because I feel no different than I did before.  I compare, I work hard and I loath, and at the end of the day I worry.  Because I know that carrying this baggage around for the next 20 years is not only going to harm me, but my marriage and ultimately the way my children see themselves.  I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I need to get these issues under wraps soon, but what I don't know, is how to do it.

I know I've used these photos before, but when I was talking of beauty I couldn't help but look through the photos of my beauties.  These are my two favourites.

Then, on a day that hasn't exactly been going well, my Mom posts this video on her Facebook and it shed a little light on the situation....



We live in an airbrushed, digitally altered, emotionally void era.  We can take someone, sit them in a chair, bring in 35 people, allow those 35 to have at 'er for a few hours, smearing her face with lotions and creams, her hair with heat, spray and a wind tunnel, then add lighting and a fantastic photographer.  After that a few tweeks here and there with a computer and she's finally "beautiful". 

What I don't understand is why she wasn't "beautiful" to start with.  And what, does this all accomplish?  I mean, if the women (and I'm sure men, but I don't want to talk about the men and their abs) we are looking at and comparing ourselves to are all enhanced, what are we looking at.  Why are we judging beauty on an image, not any more real than a cartoon?

And then, this is the part that I struggle the most with - how do we leave our Creator feeling?  I mean, He makes all things beautiful - execpt women, they need 35 people to fix what God missed.  Ummm, not so much.  If I were Him, I'd be a little more than unimpressed.

I think most of us self esteem challenged gals know all this but the believing is hard.  If this is what we're going to see, how do we change what we want?  I'm all for personal improvement, for health, wellness and confidence under the right circumstances.  But how does one keep them straight, how do we stay real?

The faces of beauty look at us each day,  in the mirror, in our children, in our friends, in the eyes of our spouses.  It's our job, as the women of right now to demand more from life, more from our world and more for our kids, so they can become self loving instead of self loathing.

While, this is not a push for Dove products and they've got no idear I'm writing of them today, I have to say "WAY TO GO DOVE!"  Your campaigns are encouraging and they're giving the power back.  With knowledge comes power and with power comes change.

Cliche or not, together we can take the power of self - self esteem, self worth and self assuredness and make the world of 'beauty"  something great for those to come!

 Now, if only I could find that power of self....