“You are beautiful!”
I must credit my mom for the way I feel about myself. These words are embedded in my mind forever!
The first place where I understood what beauty was and how beautiful I was, was at home, as the words came from my mother’s lips, “You are beautiful”. My mom was my greatest admirer, she frequently told me about my beautiful attributes, physically and otherwise; she made me feel good about myself. Growing-up, Mom was my sanctuary for down times or those times when I needed to be reminded that my beauty was not defined by others. While I desired acceptance by my peers, deep down, it really did not matter what others thought about me; my mother said, I was beautiful and that is what mattered.
Mom’s words served to build me up, it gave me confidence to face the world. I look back now, and I see how intentional she was, making a point to instill values of self-acceptance and love of one’s self. Mother, knew when I was sad and quickly applied a double-portion of her loving words and hugs (even when I did not feel like hearing or feeling them), to brighten my day.
Women often walk the streets and feel uncomfortable (I guess men too these days) when strange men see them and comment about a part of their body they admire and sometimes it could be so embarrassing to hear what comes out of their mouths. You feel violated just by their lustful expressions.
I remember returning home from school and even from work, as a young adult and sharing these disturbing moments with my mother and she always found a way to get me back on track, feeling awesome and beautiful again. Today, I am thankful that very early in my life, I was thought that I am beautiful, and subconsciously, even now, as a mother, I am still trying to live up to the standard set for me by my Mother.
Application: As parents, it is our duty to let our children know how beautiful and how special they are. Let them know they have beautiful eyes or beautiful teeth, beautiful skin or beautiful smiles; tell them daily. It is our duty as parents to allow our children to develop a healthy perception of themselves early. Having a correct perception of one self can lead to that child’s ability to guard him/herself from destructive criticisms.
