I GOT the message...post for ALL woman

So over the last month I have been overwhelmed with the same message...to the point where I feel like I have to share it! It is a message that I have personally needed but yet one that I think that ALL woman need to hear at times in our life!

Why?! Because we are WOMAN!! We are hard on ourselves!! We are ALWAYS comparing ourselves to other woman and never feeling quite good enough. And it's time to STOP it!!!

It all started with the most AMAZING little book ever! A sweet lady in my church talked about it in her relief society lesson and I was intrigued, so my sweet friend Jina gave me a copy of it for my birthday. It's just a short book that maybe took me 10 minutes to read but changed my life and perspective! It is called Beautiful by Jenny Phillips!! Every woman and girl NEEDS to read it!! It made me realize what beauty really is and made me realize that sometimes I am more focused on my outward beauty instead of my inner beauty, which is of course the most important thing and what makes us TRULY beautiful!!

I loved that book SO much I took it to my group of ladies I workout with and am making each one of them read it!

After this I had the opportunity to go to THREE different events that each talked about this subject in different but compelling ways, SO as you can tell it has been on my mind!!

At 2 of these events both of the speakers asked each woman to think of something that she likes about her appearance and SHARE it with the ladies around you!!! WHAT?! AAAAHHHH! I think every lady in the room felt a little uncomfortable and uneasy...there was a lot of laughter going on! Why is it so hard as woman to find something that we love about ourselves but so easy to tell our friends what we love about them?! Why is it embarrassing to tell someone that you love____  about yourself?! Why are we SO hard and critical on ourselves?!
"Be nice to yourself. It's hard to be happy when someone is mean to you all of the time."
Christine Arylo

We as woman need to love ourselves...inside AND out!!! We are daughters of a God who loves us!! We are created in his image! One of the speakers pointed out that he spent time to make each one of us unique. It is INCREDIBLE to me that all of us have a face, eyes, mouth, nose, ears, and a body, but yet each person is unique and looks different. Isn't that crazy...there are millions of people in the world and God took the time to make each person unique, different, and beautiful in there own way.
One beautiful quote that was shared was, "I'm not beautiful like you. I'm beautiful like me."

True beauty really is on the inside not on the outside. Think of someone who is beautiful in your eyes?? Really beautiful? It's probably someone who you admire not because of there outward appearance but because of the person they radiate with on the inside. They have a special glow to them! Have you ever met someone who is gorgeous outwardly but they are ALWAYS negative or mean? All of a sudden you don't think they are nearly as beautiful as you thought?!

If we could only see what our Heavenly Father sees in us...we would know how beautiful we really are!!! He gave us our beautiful body, talents, and gifts that make us who we are...we need to show him how much we love and appreciate them by really loving ourselves...every wrinkle, every stretch mark, every love handle, every split end, every EVERYTHING! ;)

There is ALWAYS going to be someone skinnier then us, with better hair then us, with prettier eyes then us, with better skin then us. etc. so if we continue to compare ourselves we are NEVER going to be happy! We will never love ourselves. That is what Satan wants!! One of the speakers pointed out...often times we are asking the wrong person if we are beautiful...Satan. If you got out of bed and asked him every morning if you were beautiful, of course he will bring you down and say a resounding NO!!! BUT if instead we got up every morning and asked our Heavenly Father if he thought we were beautiful...we would never go another day without feeling beautiful!!

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful."


Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying you don't ever have to workout or get ready ever again...I think there is balance in all things. Heavenly Father still expects us to take care of this beautiful gift of a body we were given (& our husbands appreciate it too ;) ) BUT don't make it your only focus and don't let that determine how beautiful you are!! You know me...I'm all about shopping (fashion) and I do love working out for the way that it makes me feel. It gives me energy, it helps me fight the battle of depression, it gives me a happy high that nothing else can give me! I need it! And of course there are TONS of physical benefits for your body to keep it strong and healthy! And I think every woman can attest to the way getting ready makes you feel as well! Sometimes just getting dressed, doing your hair, and putting on a little makeup can brighten up your day and make you feel good (and husbands appreciate that too! Lucky for me mine is blind so he can't tell! ;) ).

So I challenge you today...to STOP being a woman...kind of! ;) Quite comparing yourself to other woman! Quite complaining about the 5 lbs you still need to lose or that you don't like your nose or your wrinkles or whatever it may be! Look yourself in the mirror and say I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!
Take a look at your New Years Resolutions and goals...are they things of eternal value or are they all physical?! Write some goals that will challenge your inner self and make you become the beautiful woman God intended you to be and that He sees in you!! I promise not only will this make you more beautiful...but you will feel more beautiful and you will be HAPPY!!
"Happy girls are the prettiest!"

When we get old and pass away...your not going to want people to stand up and say..."She was the most gorgeous woman. Her hair was so shiny and soft, her skin was flawless, and she was always so skinny and tone!" HA HA! You are going to want to be remembered for the way you LIVED your life, the person that you were on the inside, the LOVE that you showed towards others, the service that you rendered, and the good example that you set for your posterity...and I hope that I will be known as someone who was a disciple of Christ! That is what we should work towards. That is what we should focus on and try to become! Not the supermodel on the front of our magazines that we all buy!!

This BEAUTIFUL song was sung at one of the events I went to and then just this last Sunday our beautiful young woman got up and sang it again! I am in love with it so I had to share. Listen to it...the words...everything...you won't be disappointed!!

Can't even tell you how many times I have listened to it!!!