When I started cosmetology school at eighteen I learned many things, and one of them was people always want to look different than they are. Even this red headed girl, doesn't want to wear red hair, but give me blond or brown and I'm good. Why do I color my hair? Because I don't like the red on me. Now, on others, I love it! So, what did I recently do? Went with red highlights. Yes, I am finally coming into the girl God made me to be. It takes us a while on this journey doesn't it? Oh, I am not there yet, believe you me. This girl has much growing to do, and one of those things I am working on is just accepting me for me. The girl God made me to be.When you are a hair stylist one the most difficult things is when a woman or man sits down in your chair, hands you a picture and says, "I wanna look like this." Well, this woman with brown hair, now wants this blond color in the magazine, along with the cut, that just so happens to be something not possible on the woman in front of you! Then you try to explain that this hair style is not possible with their hair type. They then do not want to accept that, and tell you, "But this is what I want, and I want you to do it!" So, you proceed, after telling them already that you can give them this cut, but it will not look the same. Now, you have given an awesome cut, color, and styled it, handing them the mirror, and now they have a look of horror!! They then look to the picture and back at themselves, saying, "But it doesn't look like that!" Well honey, that is what I explained. You cannot go into a salon and want to come out looking like the latest glamor star on the front page of a magazine.
We want what we do not have. If we have brown eyes, we want blue, if we have blue, we want green. Blonds want to be darker or even lighter, and red heads, well, some love it, while others want to just be brown. Are we really ever satisfied with how we look? I can't tell you how many times I have let my hair grow long, even my bangs, to where my hair is one length, only to cut it after saying I will not do so, now to cry and wish I hadn't!
Do we ever know what we want, really? We see a cute cut and think, "Wow, I want that." We see a color we have never had before and think, "Well, that is what I have been waiting for!" We are always trying to look like someone else, instead of just being the best ME I can be. Come on ladies, ever compare yourself to another? Ever ask that dreaded question, "Am I smaller than her?" And we expect our husbands or best friends to be honest and when they are, ouch! That is not what we want to hear.
We want to hear we are beautiful. And more than anything we want to feel beautiful. Now, I am finding the key is not looking for yourself in someone else, but finding the real you inside of who God made you to be. Of course we want to look our best, but why? Is it for us, our husbands, or is it for others? We should be trying to the best of who we are for one only, and that is Christ. We need to feel comfortable in our own shoes. For me, I need to realize this Irish/German girl has red hair and I just need to go with it. We don't need to be concerned with what others are wearing and just be ourselves. We each have our own style and look. We need to stop looking for acceptance in other people. Stop wondering if we look good enough to walk into the room with other women, and learn to take control of the beauty God has given each of us. I don't want to look like that girl standing next to me, I want to be me. And truth be told, many times that girl we so want to look like, is wanting to look like us!
Ladies we spend way too much time thinking about what's on the outside and not enough time concerned with what is on the inside. When we are feeling beautiful on the inside it will shine outward. When we stop trying to find acceptance in others and find it solely in Jesus, we will be complete. We will never find all we need in another person. The Lord above completes who we are when we are living in Him.
There is beauty in everything. We waste such time concentrating on all those things we don't like about ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to see the beauty that God has created in us. Each one of us has something totally different than the other, our DNA! It makes us who we are, and it makes us stand out from others. God designed us this way. We are not to conform to Hollywood standards, or the run ways of New York. We can shine by just being us. We have a run way before us, and we can learn to walk it in the light of Christ.
I say, "Put the magazines down, stop watching commercials, and put on the blinders so you don't see the billboards telling us, "We can give you the new look you have been waiting for!" The world glamorizes skinny. The world teaches us we are not good enough. The world tells us we just don't fit the bill, and shares with us that we just don't want to grow older. I love being 43 and am not afraid to grow any older! I may not have that same figure I had at 17, but I am no longer 17.
If we can just be comfortable in our own skin our beauty will shine through whether we are dressing for church or sweaty, in the garden, covered with dirt. We must accept ourselves before others can accept us. And if others do not want to accept us, well, we have a heavenly Father who thinks we are pretty special. In the end we are to shine for Him. And to do so we must take the spot light of us and refocus the light to Him. When we are not satisfied with ourselves what are we saying to the God above who made us? God doesn't make junk and He sure doesn't make mistakes. Find who you are in Him. Be comfortable with who you are, and be the best you that you can be. There is nothing wrong with improving the beauty we have, but first we must realize our beauty, not change it, not want what another has, but accentuate the beauty the Lord has already given.
So the next time you sit down in that beauty chair, look into the mirror and see the beauty before you! Look at the magnificent eye color God gave you. Look at each line and each wrinkle, each scar before you. They all tell a story. They all tell of who you are. Accept yourself. Ladies when we accept ourselves, our daughters will do the same. We can see beauty in others, but why not ourselves? Don't be afraid of the mirror ladies. Don't be afraid of time, aging and change. Grasp a hold of each day, make each day worthwhile. Let your beauty shine forth today. You are the only you there is. That is pretty special in itself, isn't it? It's not about how we look, but how we feel. It's about how we take care of ourselves.When we are healthy we feel strong and confident. If we want change, may it be a change for the Lord and not about us fitting in some category. It's about being healthy, feeling good, and letting our light shine before others.
Psalm 139:13-17 "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered."
