Happy Girls are the Prettiest

Backward, turn Backward, O Time,

in your flight, make me a child

again just for tonight

                      Elizabeth Allen

Setting:  Bathroom getting ready for Young Women's Meeting and Sarah is looking into the mirror

Me:  Sarah, what are you doing?

Sarah:  Looking at myself

Me:  You sure are beautiful

Sarah:  I know

Me:  How do you know?

Sarah:  Hands held out  "The Mirror"

 

I looked at her with awe and amazement.  Was there a way to capture this moment of how she felt right now --  self-esteem and being strong – knowing who she is – looking in the mirror and loving her image?   Was there a way to protect her from what the world would soon deliver to her in a few years of airbrushed glossy magazine covers and the onslaught of commercials that would make her question her own beauty? 

I stood at the mirror with her and glimpsed into the past --A gangling teenager, crooked teeth, glasses, red hair, freckles and blushing all the time.    Many times I wanted to just hug the wall and disappear.  There were hundreds of awkward moments and feelings of inadequacy. Basically, I was uncomfortable being me and why not as the world around me validated my thinking and feelings.  Scripts were written and played every day that were imbedded into my very being.    

Fast forward many years --- my husband came in the room and said, “when you walked in the door tonight you looked really sexy.”  At first I looked around the room to see who he was talking to because it certainly could not be me.  Once I figured out it was me (since I was the only one in the room) I said, “Really?” 

It takes effort to rewrite a script that you have lived with for so long.  It is like a comfortable sweater that once you put on you do not want to part with it.  This place is easy and soon becomes your comfort zone.  It has taken years to look in the mirror and smile back at my reflection and to honestly say, “I love you and you are beautiful.”  Slowly the script is rewritten and the old sweater is no longer needed or necessary.   There are hints of those old scripts that catch me by surprise but then I remember I am the only one who can change it --I am a Daughter of God. 

To all the beautiful women I know and who read this today.  Cherish yourself, honor yourself, and know that you are beautiful.

 “The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides."  Audrey Hepburn

www.itlooksgoodtome.com