I Choose to Believe that I am Enough

Look at these women.What do they have in common? Tan. Thin. No glasses. Half naked. Leggy. Long hair. What else do they have in common? They’re all leading ladies in popular movies over the past seven years.  I don’t know about y’all, but the more I watch movies, the more I wonder if who I am is enough.  Am I too fat?  Is my hair too short or too straight?  Are my clothes all wrong?  Will I ever find romance without wearing short skirts and too tight tops?  According to the media, the answer is that I am not enough and I won’t find romance if I don’t fit that ideal of beauty.

I am scared for the girls of tomorrow.  Heck, I’m scared for the girls of today.  I’ve talked to too many women who are consumed with self doubt because they are not a size two, don’t have long beautiful hair, or tan skin.  We work out and we skimp on calories.  We watch as the media’s definition of beauty gets smaller and smaller, until “plus size” is a size eight.  We allow ourselves to forget God’s definition of beauty, and constantly obsess over the world’s ideals.  If being a woman is what I see in the movies, I am worth sex, I am worth a good bikini, and I should spend every day fearing growing older and losing my only identity – my body.

I refuse to believe that anymore.

I refuse to believe that my worth lies in my cup size and a number on the scale.

I refuse to believe that I am not beautiful if I do not look like the women in the movies.

This is what I believe.  I choose to believe that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”.  I choose to believe that who I am is more important than what I look like.  I choose to believe that healthiness is more important than skinniness.  I choose to believe that kindness, intelligence, respect, spiritual maturity, and love are what make me beautiful.  I choose to believe that taking care of myself is more important than starving myself to fit an ideal that is impossible to achieve.I choose to believe that God made me as he wanted me.  Every feature on my face, the pigment in my skin, the color in my eyes, the length of my legs, and every single aspect of what makes me look like me was designed with intention by the God who created the beauty in the trees, the sky, and the mountains.  I choose to believe that He called them “good”, and also called me “good”.  I choose to believe that God looks upon me as I strive toward a closer relationship with Him, a purer heart, and a spirit emboldened by love and sees beauty.  I walk with confidence that God has instilled within me the power to change the world, the power to love the forgotten, and the power to believe that I am created for a purpose exactly as I look right now.

I choose to believe that I am beautiful.

Do you?