Beautiful. Inside & Out.

Day 69

“I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”

– Mother Teresa

I was contemplating whether I wanted to write a post in honor of International Women’s Day yesterday, but I didn’t think it was really me. I believe that we should celebrate all of humanity every day, not just some of it on certain days. Bare with me, I promise you’ll be glad you did. Despite my conscious beliefs, I had some feelings on the topic.

When you have an intense feeling about something, there’s probably some subconscious limiting beliefs there to look at and clear.

I had a conversation with someone a couple of days ago, who suggested that I write about my mother for IWD. I had just written a post about my mom a few days earlier so I wasn’t planning on writing another about her so soon. The suggestion got me riled up because it’s Women’s Day, not Mother’s Day. Ding Ding Ding. That’s my hot button. It’s a touchy point for me because I’m not a mother. I feel like I’m not recognized in certain ways because I’m single, and similarly, I feel like I don’t get recognition as a woman because I’m not a mother, of a human child anyway – I have Ippa. But, that’s a topic for another day. It’s clear though, that my beliefs are informing my experience.

I went online and read some of the things people posted yesterday for International Women’s Day and changed my mind. I now have a very different perspective. IWD isn’t about singling out a specific group for a day, it’s about respect, acknowledgment, achievement, acceptance, empowerment…it’s about positivity. Aside from the obvious hashtags, the one that stood out the most for me was #OneDayIWill, it’s all about hope for a better tomorrow. A hope that one day, we can celebrate all of humanity every day, not just some of it on certain days.

I’ve spent much of my adult life feeling bad for being attractive, not just because I got a lot of male attention for my looks, but because women judged me, they had preconceived notions of who I am based on my appearance. I accepted society’s commonly held beliefs about the role beauty plays in success. She made it up to the top because of her looks. She’s just a pretty face. The smart ones are ugly. The stereo-types are endless. I’m over it. I Am Attractive. I Am Smart. I Am Successful. I achieved my successes based on my merit, and I looked good doing it.

So, here’s my 2 cents for International Women’s Day:

Celebrate your beauty, ALL of your beauty. Inside & Out. Achieve your goals, let your greatness shine, be an astronaut or a NBA all-star, achieve everything there is to achieve, but don’t belittle your physical beauty just because someone tells you you should define yourself by a different standard, their standard.

Have you ever seen anything in Nature that isn’t beautiful and functional? Do people object to calling a butterfly beautiful because it serves the very vital purpose of carrying pollen from plant to plant, helping fruits, vegetables, and flowers to produce new seeds?

You are a part of nature, you are natural, and you are beautiful and functional. Beauty is your divine birthright. The Creator made women and roses and trees and butterflies and men, beautiful. Don’t discredit it. Don’t apologize for it. Please. Don’t Apologize For Being Beautiful! You are beautiful. Inside & Out. That means all of you. Your brains, your accomplishments, your ideas, your talent, your looks, ALL of you.

I hear a lot of women advising other women not to focus on their beauty because they didn’t do anything to attain it. You did. You were born. It’s your absolute Divine Birthright. Just like abundance is.

You have a divine birthright to be, do or have anything you want. All you have to do is believe. So believe in your beauty too. It’s your gift. Embrace it.

Be beautiful in Science, in Fashion, in Business, in Sports, in Politics, in Arts, in Literature, in Medicine, in Aviation, in Humanity, in Invention, in Social Justice, in The Mirror, in anything you want to be, like these beautiful women who have shown their beauty, Inside & Out, in all industries throughout history.

Don’t let anyone tell you not to appreciate your beauty. All people, men and women want their beauty to be acknowledged, otherwise we wouldn’t have billion dollar industries in fashion, cosmetics, health & fitness and the like.

Ladies, support each other. Celebrate other women. Celebrate their beauty. Celebrate their accomplishments. Don’t judge a woman because she’s beautiful. Don’t judge. Period. Encourage her beauty. And celebrate all of her achievements including her beauty, not despite her beauty. Don’t perpetuate the same old folklore that you can either be beautiful OR smart, talented and successful. You can be all of it. You ARE all of it.

Beautiful Women Inside & Out, I Salute You!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!