I am sick. I am tired. I am sick and tired.
Why? Oh. Thanks for asking!
I’m just plain old tired of the things that we women deal with on the daily.
Really – what is going on, homies? (or should that be homettes?)
Believe me, I know this is no new complaint/argument/idea/whathaveyou, and I’m sure none of you even want to hear (or rather read through) me rambling about this overly addressed topic… but girls, WHAT THE HECK?!
Throughout this next little series of posts, there are a few things in particular that I will ramble about and attack head-on here.
Pause.
When I wrote “head-on” up there, I immediately thought of “Head On, Apply directly to the forehead!” “Head On, Apply directly to the forehead!” “Head On, Apply directly to the forehead!” Ugh. Such a terrible commercial*.
Un-pause.
Alright, things I am addressing in this series:
Self-Esteem Issues. (this one’s gonna be a zinger)
Girl vs. Girl Issues (also, ZING-ER)
Boy Issues. (I’m going there…)
The Stupid, Senseless Demands of Being a Young Woman… (especially a young Christian woman – yikes, I’m not completely sure I’m even ready for this one…)
I don’t want to completely overwhelm you, though. So for today, I’ll just start with the first one on the list.
Self-esteem.
Oy vey.
It kills me – quite literally kills me – to know that people struggle with self-esteem.
And honestly, I don’t understand it at all.
So feel free to try and explain or justify self-esteem issues in the comments section below because I really don’t get it. It is not something I have EVER had to deal with. I thank God that I ‘ve always been secure in my intelligence, creativity, personality and looks. Now that’s not to say that I think I’m flawless. I will be the first to admit all my flaws… and there are an INNUMERAL amount, but I choose to see past my shortcomings to recognize and find the worth that I have through Jesus.
Still, despite my lack of self-esteem issues, I am aware that not everyone has been gifted with a similar and notably uncommon confidence. (And I’d like to take a moment to make blatantly clear that this confidence is not in myself and my accomplishments or abilities, but rather a confidence in the Lord, because without Him, none of me is even possible and I would have no reason to be so confident.)
But as I was saying, I don’t see how any girl could ever not see herself as simply magnificent**. Because whether you are aware of this fact, or you are fighting this fact, the fact remains that magnificent is what we all are. Magnificent — Every. Single. One of us***. And to think any less of yourself is an insult not only to yourself but also an insult to God by claiming His creation is anything less than wonderful.
Tell me, when was the last time you looked at someone’s handiwork and right in front of them said “Ew. That’s gross. What were you thinking? How unattractive. That could SURE use some work. That’ll never be good enough.”?****
Because when you think those things about yourself, it’s like you’re telling God you think He has failed. Really? You think that GOD FAILED?!
DO YOU SEE HOW INSANE THAT SOUNDS?*****
It is of the utmost importance to me that you all see how truly wonderful you are. YOU are smart enough to accomplish anything you want if you truly apply yourself. YOU are beautiful and worthy of love. YOU are creative, and inspiring, and cool. YOU are weird, and that’s AWESOME.
If you struggle with image, self-esteem, please, please, please, please, please, please just realize it is all about perspective.
You know what I’d like to do? I’d like to take each and every one of you out to coffee, I’d like to sit there, stare at you and just repeatedly tell you how truly beautiful you are, and then begin to list all the wonderful things about you that make you awesome, unique and so very cool.
I’m serious.
I love you. He loves you. It’s about time you loved yourself.
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*Head On commercial: I’m sorry.
**Calling y’all magnificent reminded me of an old tweet of mine:
***Though I’m speaking mostly to girls here, guys, you are magnificent too.
****If your answer to that question is anything other than “never” you should probably look into Proverbs 16:24.
*****I ain’t tryin to dog on you here and make you feel worse about yourself. But homie, that’s cray.
Christel Contemplates 