I Like Me.... Today

Tamar W.

 It’s Sunday, the beginning of the week.  I just went to the shop yesterday, so my hair is fresh, but it had the night to settle so now it’s perfect.  I have the hottest outfit, my make-up is set and I feel good.   I know I am beautiful!  And I walk in every room like I know it and everyone else better get on board and recognize just how awesome I am.  But then comes Thursday when nothing special is going on.  When I’ve have sweat all week at work and in work outs.  I have been rushing out of the house so no make-up.  And in the hustle and bustle  of the morning rush I had to wear what fits, not what pops.  I don’t even know how to feel today.  I wait for someone to compliment something, anything to reassure me that I am special and beautiful.  I try to alter my look by adding mid-morning make-up, just a dab, and adding a Bahamian twist to the front of my hair so everyone doesn’t see that I sweat my roots out. 

How much does the external define you?  What does define you?  Many times when we think about self-esteem and self-worth we think about reaching out to little girls and teens to help them discover who they are and to learn to love themselves.  But what about the measure of worth for women, for wives, for mothers, for C.E.Os, etc.? Who sets the bar for how we view ourselves?  We have to be honest that a lot of us look to the magazines to tell us what to wear and what body type we should have.  The media is just as influential on adults as it is on children… if not more influential  because adults have the means to immediately acquire what they see.  It is time out for looking in the mirror and only seeing one factor by which to determine how special and beautiful we are. Every woman should feel just as confident in her jogging pants and t-shirt as she does in her 6” stilettos  and evening gown. 

 

 Beauty has so many colors and faces.  Not everyone will be a size six and that is perfectly fine.  Now, that does not mean that because you have been blessed with curves that you can afford to neglect caring for your body with proper diet and exercise.   You are going to want to grace the earth with your presence for years to come.   It just means love who you are the way you are.  If you desire a healthier version of yourself, go get it, but do not obsess over it to the point that your forget that even when the body changes it still houses the same soul, the same personality, the same you.  

 

Not everyone was created to be a beauty queen.  Find your identity.

 I always felt that I was a plane Jane kind of girl.  Pretty ,but not so oo la la.  So discovering inner strengths became important for me.   It is critical that we know where we shine and cash in on that.  If your strong suit is being blatantly truthful, make it work for you.  If your strength lies in your brain, do not attempt to forsake the smarts in an attempt to gain notoriety for physical.  The bottom line is when age starts to wear on your body, what about you will you still love? Let me pause for the cause and say stop letting others define you and how you feel about you.  I did not successfully begin the transition into the renewed me, inside and out until, I shook off the perceptions of others and realized that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I played copycat for so long desiring to look like others, sound like others, be like others because I did not realize how valuable the genuine me really was and still is.  I was told that I needed to lose weight.  Sure, so that I can be healthy, not so that I can be pretty.   But that was never clearly defined until I defined it for myself.  Others have tried to alter my personality and I became a marionette  in an effort to fit in until I realized that I am supposed to be peculiar, unique, one of a kind. 

Your hair does not make you.  Your clothes do not define you.   You can’t even rely on your career to identify you.  You are who your are in the bare…despite all those important variables.    Know who your are.  Appreciate the wonderful creation that is you.  You are second to none.  Be comfortable in your own skin and in your own world.   Learn to say from the heart “ I like me…period”