Beauty Restored.

'I am beautiful no matter what they say, no words can't bring me down. So don't you bring me down today.'

Confidence in a girl when it comes to her appearance and image is hard to find these days. Which really if you think about it is very sad because so many young women are so very beautiful and yet we see them starve themselves or run themselves thin trying to get skinnier, taller, thinner, more popular, and in their own opinion more beautiful. I've always been one of those girls who could preach to my friends about their self image and self worth. I can remember early on in my childhood telling my friends that they were really pretty and shouldn't worry so much about their appearences; however, whenever I'd be alone looking in the mirror I'd self conciously pick out my own flaws and degrade myself little by little.

Years later I chide my friends for worrying about their appearance and again later on I find myself picking out my own flaws as well. Not many people ever knew or know now that I've always been self concious about my own image. In fact, I've so cleverly and convincingly desguised it that many people are envious of me thinking I don't face that issue. I've often thought the same of people who have preached to others about having a negative self image.

Well I'm here to tell you that that exact thought is terribly inncorrect. Ever since I was little I've always been called beautiful or pretty and never really believed it. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I've grown up around all boys for the most part in my family and never really had a female figure in my life to show me how to wear make up an arch my eyebrows. I knew my cousins wore makeup and such, but sometimes whenever I looked at their lives (having kids out of wedlock, and not seeming to be happy) I always thought that I didn't want to be like them so I didn't try to look like them either. Now, I look back I'm still glad I didn't make that choice because it would have put me in positions that I wasn't mature enough or ready to be put in, and at the same time I wish they hadn't worn so much makeup and stuff to hide their natural features. I've seen them all without makeup and they are all very beautiful people and it hurt my self image to see them put so much on to try and be happy and yet never achieve happyness.

Now I look at my life and my appearance after hearing so many sermons and preachings about self image, hearing myself childe people so many times, and praying and listening to God; I can look at myself in the mirror at night before I go to bed and appreciate my inner beauty as well as my outward beauty. I can look in the mirror and instead of seeing my frizzy hair I can appreciate my contagious smile. God as restored my heart and my eyes so that I not only see my inner beauty but so I can appreciate His creation. Me.