My last post was about women’s problem with insecurity. I
cannot count the number of times I've envied a girl who, by social standards,
is considerably less attractive than me. Jealous of the person
she is and how attractive and fierce she is as a person, not a piece of art. In
a social crowd she speaks with confidence as if what people think of her doesn't even cross her mind. I on the other hand, would find myself too shy to
talk at all in fear of not sounding like her.
The reason for this is because it
doesn’t take any work to be physically beautiful. We do not work for the
genetic match ups that create the physical features we are given. When someone
tells you you’re beautiful, you say “Thank you”. Why? You didn’t do
anything. Thank your genes. Thank your
parents for choosing each other and blending nice traits to create your look. If you skin color or face shape is more
attractive than most that is something you can’t control. It was a lucky roll that landed in the right
combination to make you pretty. It’s like a friend with excellent fashion
expertise buying you an outfit. Everyone will compliment you on your taste. You
take the compliment but you didn’t earn it. They are complimenting your
friend’s style. You are just wearing it.
So as I stand next to the girl who
will never have my fortunate genetic makeup, if you asked anyone they would say
that the feelings of envy and jealousy must be hers of me. But she is happy. She
is confident and for that reason lives a better life and that is something to
be jealous of. We place so much emphasis on beauty that when women are looking
for happiness they contort their bodies and mask their faces to become
“beautiful” because they are unhappy. Being beautiful will make them happy
because all of these beautiful women are happy.
You sure?
So why am I standing next to this
girl ashamed that I am not more like her. Because When people look at me they
don’t see me. They see a pretty picture and so they have set a standard for me
to meet. but have I met that standard for myself? Am I happy with myself? No.
But she is. She is proud of who she is. All those annoying cliché quotes fall
into perspective for me as I look in the mirror and wonder why I’m not beaming
with confidence. The ONLY way to be happy is to love yourself first. This is
beyond easier said than done. A lot of women won’t ever reach this point of self-respect
and these are the women who feed themselves to the dogs of men out there to
feel beautiful. Because of course being beautiful makes you happy. And these
men wanting you means you’re beautiful.
I’ve always had a relatively good
head on my shoulders but I was a teenage girl. And I put everything before
myself. Boys, beauty, acceptance, I never stopped to try and figure out why I
was unhappy. At a point I didn’t even realize I was. Until I hit an all-time
low. I had no self-worth. And I realized one day that everything I was doing to
make myself happy was making me unhappy. I stopped settling for being treated
like anything less than gold. Even if I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I
worked harder and I earned a sense of fulfillment. I sacrificed temporary
pleasers for future success and I changed the way I looked at being happy. Even
if something was hard and made me sad or lonely now, I did it because I cared
about myself. I made sacrifices because I knew they would be good for me in the
long run. I was taking care of me. I was proud of myself and all of a sudden, I
was happy. I didn’t care what I looked like because I was proud of the person
that I was. That is when you reached the standard for yourself and you feel
like you deserved the beauty that you were blessed with or when you realize the
lack thereof doesn’t matter. And other people will realize that just being
around you. This is why the girl didn’t look at me with envy. She didn’t need
to she was beautiful. Not physical material that was incasing who she was, but
her. And it emanated. And that is more attractive than anything.