Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Be your own kind of beautiful...

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  "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (1 Peter 3:3-4)

When I was a teenager, I didn't have my own bedroom. My family lived in one-bedroom apartment, so my sister and I slept on two convertible couches in the living room. My only outlet and personal space was a corner desk and a huge wardrobe that separated "my area" from the rest of the living room. Inside the wardrobe doors I hung all of the close to a young girl heart's things. It was my private oasis filled with memories, ideas and inspiration. And in the very middle I had this poster:

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(in case you are wondering, it's Samuel 16:7 on it). I hung it there to remind me that I'm worthy, special and yes, beautiful...I was a skinny teenager with pointy knees and a crazy mane of hair. I can't really say that I was particularly fond of myself so I often laughed that yes, I was a daisy among all those roses. To be different was beautiful too!

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a picture on Facebook that left me puzzled and sad:

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These are Valeria Lukyanova (from Ukraine) and Justin Jedlica also known as the real-life Ken and Barbie. If you Google their names, you can find more about them. In order to look like this, they (or at least he because she claims that she only had breast implants done) had multiple surgeries done to their bodies. The first thing that came to my head was how much should you hate yourself to go under the knife so many times so you can look like a plastic doll?? What struck me too is when SHE was asked about the plastic surgeries, she said she did it because she wanted to be "perfect". Is that what perfection looks like?

My boys are still little but I always think about what ideas and ideals they will have when they get older. The body images that this generation sees blasted all over the media send messages that have nothing to do with real beauty. This often causes bizarre behavior, mood swings, depression and eating disorders. Honestly, it's scary!

But it's not just about the kids/teens/tweens. Grown-ups do this too. We beat ourselves up because we don't fit in a certain mold


Too short, too tall, too skinny, have some extra pounds, wrinkles, pimples...OK now I feel like I'm turning into some sort of a motivational speaker. I'm not. I promise :) And I don't mean to sound prude. I myself use make-up, color my hair and like cute clothes. But it means the world to me when my husband tells me I'm beautiful when I don't wear any make-up at all or on a day when I feel particularly ugly.

We are all beautiful! We might not look like Barbies. And that's OK. We are not plastic either. We are unique and special in our own way. Remember, to be different is beautiful too! Never forget it! I'm not saying stop working on yourself. But do it for the right reasons.

And be sure to share this beauty with others because even a small smile can change somebody's life. And they will see how special YOU are too!

27 comments:

  1. A good message for all of us. (I feel sorry for Ken and Barbie because they are truly mentally ill.)

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    1. I know. I don't think they are bad people but it's sad. I don't know why they would do it to themselves.

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  2. It's hard to believe those two went to such extremes to look like Ken and Barbie. Your words are all so true, too.

    XOXO,
    Meredith

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  3. Ok.. first.. I CANNOT those are real people!? I'm sorry I honestly thought they were wax figures! eek!! :( That is soo sad.. i'm from the school of "wonderfully & fearfully made in HIS image". That's good enough for me!!

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    1. Well, they made them look as waxy as possible for this photo shoot but they look like dolls in real life :( And I so agree with you!

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  4. I find it difficult those are real people and not life sized dolls..very *sad* indeed. Love your message in your post, Lena, as it is so true. x

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  5. Great post! I thought that photo WAS of dolls. I guess I was lucky that I grew up in a time when there wasn't that much emphasis put on the perfect look. I knew I wasn't a beauty, but there wasn't anything wrong with me either. It wasn't until years later that I started noticing things about myself that most of the world would change. I feel for kids today. There is way too much pressure put on them to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and even act a certain way.

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    1. I felt the same way when I was younger. I think I was what they call cute :) But I was lucky to have parents who tried to teach me to love myself and cherish who God created me to be.

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  6. Holy cow, those are really real people? Nasty!! Great post BTW!!!

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    1. Thank you Debby! And yes, they are real. Just Google them :)

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  7. I had that poster on my wall when I was a teenager, too. I love it. It might surprise you to know that the area where we live has more plastic surgeries performed than any other part of the country. We have a lot of perfectionists around us. I go to the pool a lot. And I'm often amazed to see how many women have had breast implants. (I really shouldn't be looking there, but they look so abnormal to me.) Breast implants are becoming the new normal.

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  8. Well really how very superficial! Is that the maximum ambition of some people to look like plastic dolls and also their reasons are to be perfect. Perfect is monotonous and boring by the way! Give me a somewhat ordinary even plain looking person with a great personality a hundred times over;beauty will be evident from that person's actions alone and not from someone's prefabricated appearances.

    Great post by the way Lena

    keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  9. I want you to know I am gorgeous today! I just ate 7 girl scout cookies and I am going to bed!

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    1. You are, Kim :) And now go get some sleep and feel better tomorrow!

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  10. This is a very well writtn, thoughtful post! Thank you for sharing it. And yes, I think you are beautiful as can be!

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  11. Love it. Reminds me of one of my favorite Mormon Messages. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiiadnMvm20

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  12. My grandmother was a little overweight, had gray thin hair, wrinkled hands, and a few ailments, and to me she was easily (always) one of the most beautiful people I know.

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    1. Amen. When I was writing it, I was actually thinking of one of my friends. She's overweight and subconscious about it. But I think she's one of the most amazing, inspiring and beautiful people I've ever met!

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  13. Amazing post with such a great message, Lena! Thank you for this reminder--it's something we all need to hear from time to time.

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  14. Love that poster - brings back memories for me too.

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  15. Big cyber kiss for you! Thank you its nice to hear that it is acceptable to just be me.

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  16. Lovely post Lena. And I prefer the daisy anyway!

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