Crown of Beauty Magazine The Beauty Issue | Page 38

We’re quite good at seeing beauty in other people, and although that’s marvelous, it can also be incredibly dangerous. I don’t know about you, but when I see a beautiful girl, the first thing I usually feel is a pang of envy, followed by great bouts of inadequacy before I begin to slightly dislike the girl, no matter how sweet she may be.

Let’s call her Jane – she’s stunning, smart, outgoing and everything I think I’m not -all the girls want to be her and the guys swarm to her like bees around a honey pot.

Now, imagine a freaky Friday moment and you wake up in the morning in Jane’s body - with one strike of lightening and some thunder for theatrical effect, suddenly you are the girl you dream of.

Are you happy with your new life? Body? Shiny hair? Perfect teeth? Beauty?

This “test” helped me overcome so many bouts of jealousy. In the moment when I begin to envy another girl’s beauty, I force myself to tune into my own body that I know better than anyone else's on this Earth – the tiny scar on my thumb that’s nearly invisible, but is a constant reminder of my childhood antics, the tiny birthmarks along my arms, or the brown eyes that although are quite ordinary, hold so many dreams and feelings.

I imagine that if I ended up in someone else’s body – no matter how fit, strong or beautiful she was, I would miss the curves of my own body – the ones that I’ve learned to dress and appreciate. I would miss the memories that my body has given me – the places my feet allowed me to explore, the heart that kept on beating no matter how often I took it for granted and the lungs that took deep breaths in the crazy moments of life.

The thing is, if I don’t love my own body, if I am so fixated on becoming more beautiful, ironically,

I fail to see the beauty in others. I notice their beauty, yes, but it’s not a source of happiness for me, but of envy and insecurity.

You need to accept yourself and recognize your own beauty before you can love someone else for their beauty. This process is painful, ugly and blessed, because you’ll begin to recognize that the outer beauty that is visible to the eye is merely a figment of your personal insecurities and society’s expectations.

You could wish to be a Victoria’s Secret model, a pretty girl you know in real life, one you saw on a fashion blog or simply dreamed up as a product of your imagination. But, if you transform your body into that girl, your life will become like hers.

You’ll no longer have the same interests, accomplishments, dreams, friendships or thoughts. Eventually, you will change on the inside too, because God created every person to fit His plans for their lives.

There is a reason you’re short or tall (Psalm 139:13-17). A purpose for why your hair curls just so or is that shade of brown. He created you for a purpose – every curve, dimple and little detail is necessary for you to fulfill your destiny. When you begin to change those things or even hate them, you take a step away from God and His work in your life.

Only when you recognize that you are beautiful just as you were created, will you begin to truly love the beauty in the women in your life.

~*~

Yelena Bosovik is an ordinary girl serving an extraordinary God. A first year law student at the University of Missouri School of Law, she hopes to go into international corporate law. Yelena is the editor and cheif of Tizrah magazine.

She loves God, working with young women, writing, reading, and coffee.

Just Because She's Pretty...

Doesn't Mean You're Not

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