I have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage. I love sports. Especially swimming and gymanstics. I also spend a lot of time looking at the athletes and thinking, why can't I look like that? Now, I understand that everyone is different and everyone has issues but when you watch these world class athletes and you see the reaction people have to them, it is bound to effect you if you are struggling with yourself. I realize that I have come a long way in a short time. I realize that I should be proud of how far I have come. I also realize that I can do anything I want but the truth is, I am never going to look like Hope Solo, Jordyn Wieber, or Misty May Treanor. I am never going to have all day to train. I am never going to be 15 again, and I am never going to marry a professional baseball player either. That's okay. I am my own kind of beautiful.
The problem when you let other's define you is that you sell yourself short. An individual's value is not what you see on the outside. It isn't the number of medals won or the amount of records set. An individual is valuable for living a good life, loving good people, being a good friend, good spouse, good child, good sibling, great parent, caring person, and productive member of society.
Now, some people will not agree with me. Some people will only see the value of a person in the greatness they acheive publically. The truth is, most people are not world class gymnasts, pro volleyball players, or world champ soccer players. None of my friends are accomplished in this manner. They may have been cheerleaders or softball players or on the soccer team in high school. Some may have played semi-pro baseball. They all moved on. They are not defined by accomplishments they made when they were 18. They are shaped by them. They learned from them. They live valuable, productive, wonderfully successful lives that have nothing at all to do with the Glory Days.
Being my own kind of beautiful is important. Realizing that I can shape myself only so far and the rest is genetics is just simple facts of life. I am never going to be certain things but guess what, other people are never going to be me. I have to love myself now. Accept that I am beautiful and if someone can't see that because they don't like red heads or they are not attracted to women who are not tiny, that isn't my problem. I have worked really hard to get to where I am. I am not done, I have only just begun. Every person on earth is a work in progress for a lifetime. I am no different. What I am realizing is that the value I have goes beyond my dress size, breast size, or nose.
I hope everyone sees my value but if they don't they really need to move and stop blocking me because there are others who will see it. Everyone should feel this way. There are only two kinds of people in the world, the ones that hold you back and the ones that lift you up. I don't have time in my life for anyone who will hold me back. I have too much to give.
Be your own kind of beautiful and don't let the world define you. The world is pretty messed up itself, after all.
Happy Tuesday!
Simply,
Laura
