on beauty

"I wish I had a different nose"

"I always wanted blue eyes"

"If only I had tan skin"

"My face it too round"

"I need braces for my crooked teeth"

These phrases have passed my lips many times during my lifetime. I am guilty of looking in the mirror and picking apart almost every feature on my face. As I've grown up, I've come to accept and even embrace some things about my appearance. I've started to accept compliments about my big, brown eyes and have been grateful that my teeth are pretty straight for never having braces. And yet . . . many mornings I wish I looked differently in some way or another. 

Why do we do this? I know I shouldn't and I often give in to my weakness of insecurity BUT . . . I also know that I am a daughter of God and I am important to Him and He loves me the way He created me (big nose and all). There's an incredible peace that comes from recognizing who I am and what I am worth. I can't forget the words I heard spoken at a conference for young women in 2005:

I plead with you young women to please be more accepting of yourselves, including your body shape and style, with a little less longing to look like someone else. We are all different. Some are tall, and some are short. Some are round, and some are thin. And almost everyone at some time or other wants to be something they are not! But as one adviser to teenage girls said: “You can’t live your life worrying that the world is staring at you. When you let people’s opinions make you self-conscious you give away your power. … The key to feeling [confident] is to always listen to your inner self—[the real you.]” And in the kingdom of God, the real you is “more precious than rubies.” Every young woman is a child of destiny and every adult woman a powerful force for good.

I want you to be proud you are a woman. I want you to feel the reality of what that means, to know who you truly are. You are literally a spirit daughter of heavenly parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. That surpassing truth should be fixed deep in your soul and be fundamental to every decision you make as you grow into mature womanhood. There could never be a greater authentication of your dignity, your worth, your privileges, and your promise. Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance. He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and frustrations. And He knows what you can become through faith in Him.

- Elder Jeffrey Holland

I watched this video on our perceptions of our own beauty and as I watched the reactions of the women, I felt the tears start to flow. A little bit out of shame that I would also be guilty of negative criticism of my appearance but also out of love and joy that people generally see the good in each other. If you haven't seen it, watch and realize that you are more beautiful than you know.