I Choose Beautiful

Today a dear friend who always has wise and wonderful Facebook statuses, spoke about this video. As always, her words made me think. Even before I watched this, I thought about the subject matter and replied.

“All my life I was thought of as “average” and made to feel that this wasn’t good enough. I have come to accept my averageness and because of that I feel beautiful. That is a difficult thing when you are ravaged by pain, swelling and fatigue, but those are the times when feeling average is more than enough! I love who I am as I am and am loved by others this way too.”

Another area of my life that has not been conducive to beauty is, of course, mental illness. Whether you have bipolar, depression, OCD, anxiety, panic attacks (I have all of them), or a dozen other diagnoses, the stigma alone is enough to make you wish there was a third door choice sometimes. But the truth is, the more we go through, the more beautiful we become, inside AND out!

Think about it. The waves hitting the beach over and over smooth the stones, shells and logs, making them beautiful trinkets to collect. Glaciers wear down mountainsides and carve out valleys – the water and ice from them are incredible colours. Winds sweep the desert sands and the pressures of rock form beautiful diamonds. A tiny grain of sand in an oyster shell makes beautiful pearls. If things of nature can become beautiful through pressure and/or challenging circumstances, why can’t the same happen for people?

Whether you believe, as I do, that all things are controlled by God, or you believe in fate, karma or other explanations, the same principle applies – everything happens for a reason. Beauty is everywhere in nature and it is everywhere in humanity. Some people who would be considered beautiful on the outside by society may be very ugly in their hearts (though they don’t have to be). So it goes without saying that someone who is seen to be plain or average, by themselves, or by others, may be hiding a beautiful heart and soul. It is in all of us, we just have to let it out.

I went a long time believing that I was less than average in every capacity. I even went for a long time believing I wasn’t even worthy of God’s unconditional love (ironically no one is worthy but He loves us anyway). But I have changed. I have realized my worth in this world.

I choose beautiful…do you?