Let me be candid, this post is as much for me as it is for all you readers. Over the past three years, the Lord has dramatically transformed my mind and renewed my heart, and I simply want to share with you some bits of wisdom I have collected (if you can call my limited life experience wisdom.) So here goes.
My metamorphosis began halfway through junior year of high school. Along with high school came a high-pressured environment. I remember feeling a sort of friction between the girls in my class; we all played nice with each other for the most part, but it felt like we were competitors rather than allies. We had a difficult time celebrating each other’s victories without welcoming in a little jealousy. We would support each other through the failures, but not nearly as much through the victories.
We as women and girls tend to size each other up, when we should be building each other up. I think we have all been guilty of this at some point, including me. However, it raises the question, why are we constantly pitted against each other? An alliance between women and girls is especially important to empowerment. How can we further women’s empowerment, when we aren’t empowering the women in our own lives?
A key first step in forming an alliance with the women in our lives is developing a sense of self-love. To love others, we must love ourselves. Self-love does not equate with selfishness. Quite the contrary, it means coming to terms with the fact that you are worthy of love. Love of your body, your mind, and your soul.
Frankly, I’ve always had trouble loving my body, and that’s a bigger issue than it may seem because the body houses both mind and soul. We can hardly love what’s on the inside when we don’t love what’s on the outside. Therefore, loving our bodies is crucial to achieving self-love.
Body positivity is revolutionary. It is no small feat. Everyday that we choose to take care of ourselves and love what we see in the mirror, we are engaging in revolution. Do not be mislead, body positivity isn’t about being beautiful, at least in the conventional way. It’s about redefining beauty. Beauty is aspiring to be pretty smart, pretty strong, or pretty significant. Anything but plain old pretty. Beauty is choosing to love the whole package.
When we are comfortable loving ourselves, we have no cause for comparison, and therefore, no cause for competition. This is the foundation for alliances between women and girls. We need these alliances because we make each other better. When one of us succeeds, it does not detract from another’s success. On the contrary, lifting each other up allows us to gain in mutual strength and wisdom.
So we as women have cause to celebrate; we have cause to celebrate ourselves, each other, and the female experience. xoxo Jess.
//Romans 12:2// Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
//Proverbs 27:7// As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
//Romans 15:2// We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment