In Honor of Valentine's Day: Beauty

You only know what is beautiful because of what you are told.

What do you think when you look in the mirror?  Where did those thoughts come from?

I know I look in the mirror and have no idea whether I am beautiful or not except for the ideas given to me by others.  We are blind to what we see in the mirror.

Are your family members beautiful?  You may not recognize this until someone else tells you.  A brother often doesn't know his sister is beautiful until one of his friends points out her dazzling smile.

I think of all the young, amazing girls who are constantly in tears or striving for acceptance because they are not "enough" of a beauty in the eyes of their peers.

I cannot express how important of a role our family and immediate friends play in forming our whole perception of beauty.  As parents, we need to raise our children always letting them know how wonderful, beautiful, and intelligent they are.  As friends, we need to express the same sentiment.  We've all seen how this simple, regular encouragement can truly change someone's appearance - think of that girl all of the guys suddenly start wanting once she is in a steady relationship.

I remember being an 11-year-old nerd.  Actually, I'm not sure "nerd" even covers all the bases.  My favorite teacher, Mrs. Ginny James (she passed away from cancer not long after my class year), let me know almost every day how intelligent and beautiful I was.  She saw my despair and made it her mission to heal my troubled heart.  And you know what?  Around everyone else, I still felt unwanted, but around Mrs. James, I felt beautiful.  I felt beautiful and competent and able to conquer the world.  She gave me hope.  She made me feel as if I could do anything.  She changed me.

Perhaps we've looked at someone and thought they were delusional in their inflated self-perception, but better delusional than depressed, right?  I'd much rather someone have a misperception for the positive.

We need to always tell our friends and family how beautiful they are.  Because they are.  Each of us is the most wonderful, amazing, beautiful person in the world to someone.  Let's get a head start and believe it about ourselves.