Do we allow ourselves or others to be BEAUTIFUL for our/their unique qualities? Is fair skin or too dark of skin considered BEAUTY? Is really curly hair or stick straight  hair in the category of LOVELY? Are we all fighting to be and look like what is considered BEAUTIFUL  by the standards of the media and the images we see in magazines? Why do we all want to look the same? I feel like it is a battle to not get trapped in the standards of the world and what they consider as BEAUTY.

While I was at the beach this past weekend I was looking through a magazine that was left at the house we were staying at. On the last page I came across this quote that opened up my eyes again to the reality of beauty. It opened up my heart to accept who I am and know what I have is great. To remember to not to get caught up in others standards and stay true to what I believe. To look past what I feel sometimes and grasp what is reality. The realness that I was created just this way for a reason. I bring something that no one else has. I am uniquely me. No matter how much I want to change sometimes who I am will always come out. I feel the most beautiful when I accept my true qualities and when I do not camouflage into everyone else and their standards.

“We allow ourselves to appreciate the beauty of nature- flowers, whatever the length of their stem or the shape of their petals; clouds in the sky, however wispy or puffy- so why don’t we treat ourselves with the same admiration? Just like every bloom, blade of grass or ray of sun, we are beautiful. Sometimes, you have to slow down long enough to let that sink in.” – Self Magazine

I am on a mission to accept the beauty in all things. I want to appreciate the beauty in me and notice it in others. Our differences makes us uniquely true. True to us, true to our beauty. This is no competition to see who is the most beautiful or who is the fairest of them all. If this is a competition is has to be to get passed the ‘status quo’  and to see clearly not the faults but the beauty. Beauty in all things.

Why does it have to be so hard to appreciate ourselves and others just the way they are? Why do we wish we looked like someone that we are not and will never be. What is BEAUTY?

beau·ty: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.),a meaningful design or pattern, or something else

Beauty to me is being confident in who you are. Taking what you have and loving it. Being true to YOU. There isn’t a hair color that is the prettiest. There isn’t a type of skin that is the best. If your legs are long or short doesn’t mean you are or are not model material. Accept who you are and take time to remember you are a BEAUTY just the way you are!