There is a desire in my heart, and has been there for a long time now, to 'clothe women with beauty and dignity.' Not to alter a woman and her style, but to free her to be the woman she is in the depths of her heart, and to wear her own style with confidence.
In this day and age where physical beauty is often celebrated and rewarded more than anything else, including beauty of the heart, many women don't dare to celebrate who they are and what they look like if it doesn't resemble the airbrushed images of a magazine. And that's a shame.
Me, I've looked in the mirror for 47 years hating what was reflected back to me, never caring enough about the person before me to look after her - or, when I have had bouts of taking care of myself physically, I soon give up after tripping over one negative thought or another about myself. What a waste of a life it is to live in the shadow of insecurity. In fact, what a waste of a life it is not to live in the fullness of your own potential. And, yes, I speak from experience.
It's only in recent days that I've found great peace with being me. Unfortunately, on arriving at this place, I've stepped up to the mirror and, despite the inner change, I've found I'm staring at the mess my insecure self left behind. The new me can't be seen yet. I'm still dressed in the "rags" of Yesterday.
Accessing the mess in the mirror, part of me goes, "I'm old and too tried to take up exercise..." or "It's too late; too much damage has been done..." but another part of me says, "This is not who I am. This is not what I want to look like." That's not to say I'm going to run out and alter my appearance with cosmetic surgery - even if I wouldn't knock a facelift back if someone offered, lol - but I realise this is me, this is what I have to work with. It may not be the finest canvas to work with, but I still have it in my power to improve it.
My husband and I met and married rather swiftly, not because we had to but because we wanted to, so the reason he was open to spending the rest of his life with me didn't have time to come to light until after the marriage certificate was signed - and that was because God had shown Tim my potential. Personally, I took that as a major insult. lol... To me, that was saying I was not good enough for the man. It certainly moved to lessen my affections for Tim... Now, 20 years later, when I look at my life and self and think "wow, woman, you so didn't live up to your potential" Tim tells me I've gone above and beyond the potential he saw in me. And while I'm comforted by the love and approval my husband gives me, I'm not happy with the shadows I've lived in, that seemed to have disabled me from living a full life.
Well, it's time to step free of those shadows - the shadows of doubt; the shadows of shame; the shadows of someone else's disapproval, of the media, of 'what a woman is supposed to be, look like and behave.' It's time to step up to the plate - or, in this case, the mirror and play this game of life as me.
I have a lot of weight to lose. There are obviously things I can't change about myself physically, and some things that can be altered but finances don't allow, so I'm simply going to work on doing what I can, and I'm just going to have to stop living in the shadow of 'woe is me' or in the shadows of shame and insecurity when it comes to things I have no power to alter.
My journey of releasing my full potential, of releasing the true me, of releasing the beauty and dignity all women possess, doesn't begin with taking hold of an outlined diet, it doesn't start with losing the weight, nor does it start with what I wear or anything else physical, for that matter. Rather, it starts with "me" - it starts IN me; in accepting ME - faults and all.
The woman in the mirror is aging fast - even faster, it seems, now that menopause has kicked in - but that's not me. I can't stop the aging. I can't stop the grey hair from poking through, or the lines on my face from deepening, but I can dress myself in a way that reflects me. At the moment, I don't dress in a way that reflects me, for I'm still trying to hide certain parts of me - so I wear a lot of black, I mean, and am yet to purchase clothes that are 'me'. I would wear brighter colours and different styles of clothing if I were at a weight that suited me. And that's the thing. I don't want to hide anymore. I accept me, therefore I now want to be me, so I will lose weight in order to reflect the inner me through activities and clothing, but still, the external appearance is to reflect the inner soul, the true character of a person, not to make the person.
They say clothes make the person, but that's because we live in a cosmetic world, I reckon. We, on the other hand - those of us who want to be ourselves, don't need clothes to bring us confidence, rather, we're going to wear whatever it is we want to wear - be it good old tracksuits pants and a faded T-shirt - because we're now confident on the inside and comfortable in our own flesh. But we're not going to hide anymore, are we. :) We're going to be confident in our looks - whatever they are. We're going to be confident in our body shape - whatever it is. We're going to improve our physical self ONLY IF WE WANT TO, not because someone else thinks we should. We're going to express our physical appearance as a reflection of the beauty and dignity that lives inside of us, that has been overshadowed for way too long by shame and insecurity. We're going to reach deep inside of ourselves, into the beauty and dignity that is ours and ours alone, and we're going to cast insecurity and shame into the pit of hell, we're they belong, and we're going to rise up and live the rest of OUR life, as OURSELF! :) Would you care to take this journey with me? You don't have to walk it alone. :)
Life is too short to live in the shadows of insecurity, doubt, another's judgement, and so on. You have one life in which you get to live YOUR LIFE. I've wasted so much of my life living in shadows - but I don't want to anymore. I want to live. I want to be me. And I don't want to be ashamed of me, or live in the shame produced by someone else, just because 'someone else' looks down their nose at me. It's not their life I'm living. It's not "their" life YOU'RE living. You have far greater potential to live a life that is far more worthy of you than being somebody else's reflection or shadow. It's my life. It's your life. I'm me. You're you. It's time to shine. It's time to celebrate life. It's time to celebrate YOU! Let's do it!
First step: Simply say out loud, "I'm me... and that's ok!" :)
See YOU soon...
Love and respect,
Donna.
xxxxxx
In this day and age where physical beauty is often celebrated and rewarded more than anything else, including beauty of the heart, many women don't dare to celebrate who they are and what they look like if it doesn't resemble the airbrushed images of a magazine. And that's a shame.
Me, I've looked in the mirror for 47 years hating what was reflected back to me, never caring enough about the person before me to look after her - or, when I have had bouts of taking care of myself physically, I soon give up after tripping over one negative thought or another about myself. What a waste of a life it is to live in the shadow of insecurity. In fact, what a waste of a life it is not to live in the fullness of your own potential. And, yes, I speak from experience.
It's only in recent days that I've found great peace with being me. Unfortunately, on arriving at this place, I've stepped up to the mirror and, despite the inner change, I've found I'm staring at the mess my insecure self left behind. The new me can't be seen yet. I'm still dressed in the "rags" of Yesterday.
Accessing the mess in the mirror, part of me goes, "I'm old and too tried to take up exercise..." or "It's too late; too much damage has been done..." but another part of me says, "This is not who I am. This is not what I want to look like." That's not to say I'm going to run out and alter my appearance with cosmetic surgery - even if I wouldn't knock a facelift back if someone offered, lol - but I realise this is me, this is what I have to work with. It may not be the finest canvas to work with, but I still have it in my power to improve it.
My husband and I met and married rather swiftly, not because we had to but because we wanted to, so the reason he was open to spending the rest of his life with me didn't have time to come to light until after the marriage certificate was signed - and that was because God had shown Tim my potential. Personally, I took that as a major insult. lol... To me, that was saying I was not good enough for the man. It certainly moved to lessen my affections for Tim... Now, 20 years later, when I look at my life and self and think "wow, woman, you so didn't live up to your potential" Tim tells me I've gone above and beyond the potential he saw in me. And while I'm comforted by the love and approval my husband gives me, I'm not happy with the shadows I've lived in, that seemed to have disabled me from living a full life.
Well, it's time to step free of those shadows - the shadows of doubt; the shadows of shame; the shadows of someone else's disapproval, of the media, of 'what a woman is supposed to be, look like and behave.' It's time to step up to the plate - or, in this case, the mirror and play this game of life as me.
I have a lot of weight to lose. There are obviously things I can't change about myself physically, and some things that can be altered but finances don't allow, so I'm simply going to work on doing what I can, and I'm just going to have to stop living in the shadow of 'woe is me' or in the shadows of shame and insecurity when it comes to things I have no power to alter.
My journey of releasing my full potential, of releasing the true me, of releasing the beauty and dignity all women possess, doesn't begin with taking hold of an outlined diet, it doesn't start with losing the weight, nor does it start with what I wear or anything else physical, for that matter. Rather, it starts with "me" - it starts IN me; in accepting ME - faults and all.
The woman in the mirror is aging fast - even faster, it seems, now that menopause has kicked in - but that's not me. I can't stop the aging. I can't stop the grey hair from poking through, or the lines on my face from deepening, but I can dress myself in a way that reflects me. At the moment, I don't dress in a way that reflects me, for I'm still trying to hide certain parts of me - so I wear a lot of black, I mean, and am yet to purchase clothes that are 'me'. I would wear brighter colours and different styles of clothing if I were at a weight that suited me. And that's the thing. I don't want to hide anymore. I accept me, therefore I now want to be me, so I will lose weight in order to reflect the inner me through activities and clothing, but still, the external appearance is to reflect the inner soul, the true character of a person, not to make the person.
They say clothes make the person, but that's because we live in a cosmetic world, I reckon. We, on the other hand - those of us who want to be ourselves, don't need clothes to bring us confidence, rather, we're going to wear whatever it is we want to wear - be it good old tracksuits pants and a faded T-shirt - because we're now confident on the inside and comfortable in our own flesh. But we're not going to hide anymore, are we. :) We're going to be confident in our looks - whatever they are. We're going to be confident in our body shape - whatever it is. We're going to improve our physical self ONLY IF WE WANT TO, not because someone else thinks we should. We're going to express our physical appearance as a reflection of the beauty and dignity that lives inside of us, that has been overshadowed for way too long by shame and insecurity. We're going to reach deep inside of ourselves, into the beauty and dignity that is ours and ours alone, and we're going to cast insecurity and shame into the pit of hell, we're they belong, and we're going to rise up and live the rest of OUR life, as OURSELF! :) Would you care to take this journey with me? You don't have to walk it alone. :)
Life is too short to live in the shadows of insecurity, doubt, another's judgement, and so on. You have one life in which you get to live YOUR LIFE. I've wasted so much of my life living in shadows - but I don't want to anymore. I want to live. I want to be me. And I don't want to be ashamed of me, or live in the shame produced by someone else, just because 'someone else' looks down their nose at me. It's not their life I'm living. It's not "their" life YOU'RE living. You have far greater potential to live a life that is far more worthy of you than being somebody else's reflection or shadow. It's my life. It's your life. I'm me. You're you. It's time to shine. It's time to celebrate life. It's time to celebrate YOU! Let's do it!
First step: Simply say out loud, "I'm me... and that's ok!" :)
See YOU soon...
Love and respect,
Donna.
xxxxxx
Come on... take the challenge... I dare ya! ;) What do you have to lose! :)
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