For Every Girl

It pains me to hear about young girls who are developing self image issues. One of my clients was recently telling me about how her young tween was struggling with her self image, and she was only 11 years old and was hoping that if she saw herself in the images from a photo session it will help her self esteem. I love helping women and girls see themselves in a new light through my lens. However, nothing gets my blood boiling more than the fact that our society and media today makes a beautiful young girl feel self conscious about her body and self conscious about who she is. Who are we to compare her to a red carpet actress or to the covers of all the glamour magazines on the store shelves. Not to mention that these models spend much of their days and thousands of dollars primping and prepping for what they are told is a ‘perfect’ body image to be seen in front of the cameras or on magazine covers.

I want to scream from the rooftops to all these young ladies and tell them over and over again…. you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are enough and you are made for a beautiful purpose in this life.

I can personally relate to feeling less than, someone else, when I was a young girl. I felt I was too tall, I was so much taller than all the boys. I felt like a wall flower watching all the other girls dance with the boys because I towered over them. I used to think that my legs were too fat, I used to compare them to all the other tiny petite girls in my gym classes. I thought my hair was too curly, so when I went to bed at night, I would wear a wool hat (I kid you not) so that my hair wouldn’t be too frizzy and curly the next morning for school. I thought I was too ‘fat’, thought I had a big forehead, thought I had a double chin, thought I wasn’t tan enough, thought I wasn’t popular enough, and the list goes on. Until one day you wake up much wiser and much more self accepting.

Our lives are a journey of personal growth, of self-acceptance and self-love. Maybe it just takes us 50 years to realize we are perfect just the way we are. Maybe some of us never learn this and it becomes a lifetime struggle. Why do girls and women waste their time feeling this way, when there is so much in this world that they are capable of doing and accomplishing just the way they are, and so many people who love them just the way they are. If only they could realize this now, at this moment, how important and perfect they are in God’s eyes as opposed to the eyes scrolling through social media.

For every girl who is teased in school because she feels ‘different’ and feels like she doesn’t fit in. For every girl who feels she isn’t pretty enough. For every girl who feels she isn’t thin enough. For every girl who feels her hair isn’t nice enough, or straight enough or curly enough. For every girl who feels she isn’t pretty enough to go out on a date. For every girl who feels that she needs to have a boyfriend to feel complete. For every girl who feels she isn’t the right height. For every girl who feels she isn’t the right size. For every girl who believes she is not smart enough. For every girl who feels she isn’t fast enough at sports. For every girl who thinks she is not worthy enough of anyone’s love.

For every girl who believes she is not good enough for anything….this is for you.

You are, yes YOU are, perfectly imperfect. God made you just the way you for a reason. Accept yourself, let go of any false truths that you have heard over the years. Maybe it was the classmate on the playground who called you Big Bird because you are tall, or the boy in class who called you fat. Or a parent who said something out of anger or spite, or just joking around calling you lazy or useless. Let it go, this is not your truth. People who say things to criticize others have their own issues. Putting someone else down makes them feel better about themselves. Know that they are really the ones with the issues. Perhaps they are not feeling loved in their own family, perhaps they are bullies because they are being abused at home or in an abusive relationship. Forgive them, let it go, move on to accomplish all the great things you are capable of doing. Don’t waste your time on the people who do not make you feel good about yourself. You are beautiful, you are loved. You are good enough, You can accomplish anything that you put your mind to.

You are loved just the way you are.