Good Morning Friends! Thought I'd share a little Sunday message before I head off to church. I have a cute little 6 year old niece who is in the 1st grade. In school, her class was told to draw a picture of themselves and then fill in the blanks on a paper about themselves. Her mom shared the picture and I love her response. The first line said "I am________." While most children filled in the blank with their name or "a student" or "a boy," My sweet niece filled in "I am beautiful and smart." How I love her confidence and self esteem! This story reminded me of another I had heard a while back. Susan W Tanner had shared a story about her 3 year old grand daughter who, when she told her how much she loves her, replied, "Everybody does, Grandma!" She went on to explain that something happens to girls (and boys) between 3 and 13 that causes their self image to deteriorate. I've been pondering why this happens, and here are some thoughts I came up with.
The world would have us think that in order to be beautiful, cool, or worthy we have to subscribe to THEIR standards. Girls starve themselves, dress inappropriately, even get expensive surgeries to change their appearances. They plaster images that are impossible to achieve and then tell us that we are not worthy if we can not duplicate them. The truth is, no matter how we look, how we dress, how much money we have, or where we live, we will never find that self-worth through others. We must find it inside ourselves. If we find that knowledge inside ourselves, we know that we are beautiful, intelligent beings that have much contribute to the world. We are ENOUGH. I hope you will all reach inside yourselves and find all the amazing qualities that you have and then encourage others to do the same. Try not to put yourself down, and be less judgmental of others. We all have infinite worth.
The world would have us think that in order to be beautiful, cool, or worthy we have to subscribe to THEIR standards. Girls starve themselves, dress inappropriately, even get expensive surgeries to change their appearances. They plaster images that are impossible to achieve and then tell us that we are not worthy if we can not duplicate them. The truth is, no matter how we look, how we dress, how much money we have, or where we live, we will never find that self-worth through others. We must find it inside ourselves. If we find that knowledge inside ourselves, we know that we are beautiful, intelligent beings that have much contribute to the world. We are ENOUGH. I hope you will all reach inside yourselves and find all the amazing qualities that you have and then encourage others to do the same. Try not to put yourself down, and be less judgmental of others. We all have infinite worth.
My name is Lori, and I am beautiful and smart. And so are you.
No comments:
Post a Comment