When I was growing up I was very tall and awkward. When I was 12 I was taller then most the boys I knew. It made me have terrible self-esteem issues and I never felt like I was pretty. It didn't help that my cousin Joni was what I considered a beauty. She was of average height and blonde hair and what I thought "perfect". Obviously many years later as I grew into my height and felt comfortable in my own skin I was so happy those "awkward" years were behind me. I have a husband I adore, that adores me. We have a son we are so proud of that will do great things in the world, at the very least he is a young man of great character and empathy and he just never ceases to make us proud.
So back to my story. I was on a Facebook page that was about the neighborhood in Philadelphia where I grew up . The admins put up a question everyday and todays was, Where did you hang out as a kid? So I answered. So long story short I get a message from one of the woman who read what I had written and asked me who my mother was (I don't have my maiden name on Facebook) and when I told her she was so excited that she knew me. She said I hung out with her cousin and she was a bit younger then me. She said she will never forget me because she thought I was a "Supermodel" because I was so "tall and beautiful" and that she loved when I came around because I was so nice to her and she thought when she grew up she hoped she was a "beautiful" as me. I have to say that pretty much floored me. So I was talking to my son about it later. I told him about the exchange and I told him, boy I wish I would have known that because I felt so ugly when I was growing up. And my son says to me, "mom, most beautiful girls feel that way." WOW...really? Now don't get me wrong, I don't in any way think I am beautiful , I am sure my son does and I am positive my husband and parents do because well, they love me. But I just thought what an interesting day...why do we spend so much time as young people so insecure, why don't we tell others how beautiful we think they are? Why is being a teenage girl so hard and why are we so hard on one another as females. I know it's deep....but really, don't you think it matters?
3 comments:
i always wonder that. its as if we are never good enough for ourselves.
For what it’s worth Ines, you are beautiful, in every way!
my mom always told me the older she got, she more she understood why people thought beauty came from within, and I agree:) You are beautiful inside and out:)
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