Do you have things about your physical appearance that you are or have been self-conscience about? Maybe something small & silly – or something big that really bothers you? If we were all honest, I bet we all have at least one thing about ourselves that we wish deep down we could change. Us girls especially.
Well, in the spirit of being open & honest on this blog, I thought I’d share two of mine. These two things have bothered me since I was younger & in hindsight, they seem silly now…but they bothered me for a long time. Sincerely embarrassed me as a teenager. A lot of it stems from lame comments made during my childhood by random people. Who? I don’t even remember! Goes to show you how words can really penetrate at such a young age & affect a child for years to come.
Let me just lay these things out there for you…here goes (try not to laugh too hard)….
1. my short, stubby thumbs
2. my bigger than normal forehead
My thumbs look more like big toes than thumbs. Its true. I used to struggle with this. So much in fact, that I remember being a young girl & hiding my thumbs when I would sit next to people, so they wouldn’t see them. I would tuck my thumb into my fist. But as I have gotten older and matured, I’ve actually grown to love my little thumbs. They are unique & I generally kick butt at Thumb Wars. So there. My mom always told me they were just the way God made them – which always made me smile. I didn’t realize how right she was until I was older…at the time, I was just thumb shy & sad that they appeared different than everyone else’s.
Also, as a child, I always had bangs. It was the style in the 80’s – big & poofy, massively hairsprayed bangs. One time in the 90’s, when styles were changing, I decided to pull my hair back with a headband, and someone told me my forehead was big. Maybe they were joking? Maybe not. But regardless, from that moment on, I had a complex. I felt as though my forehead was the hugest thing ever & bangs were a necessity in order for me to be pretty. How sad! I remember being in a cheerleading competition where everyone pulled all of their hair back into a cute ponytail, but me. I couldn’t do it because of my forehead phobia. I look at it now, and while yes, it is in fact bigger than some people’s (don’t we all have different sizes of everything), I don’t feel like its as large as I had once perceived it to be. In fact, I actually grew my bangs out several years ago and expose my forehead to the world daily now!
So what’s the point of this post? Here’s the point. At nearly 30 years old (yes, I will be 30 this year – yikes), I could care less if my thumbs are big toes or my forehead is taller than Mt. Everest. Seriously. There are much bigger problems & concerns in the world. But back then, it was a big deal to me. When I think back to how obsessed I was growing up about these two things and throughout my high school years, it makes me so sad. How dare I question the work of God’s hand?
Kids are like sponges, ya know? They soak everything in. Thinking about this today & also listening to a friend of mine who has a daughter in the pre-teen stage & all that she goes through…made me think of my precious girls & everything they will go through over the next ten to twenty years in their lives. Gosh, I hope they have enough self-esteem to not let stupid comments affect them the way I did. And I pray that I can always remind them, like my mom did to me – God made YOU this way and beauty comes from the inside.
So if you struggle with issues like I did, small or big, or have children dealing with these kinds of things, remember this verse…
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14
Love to all of my beautiful friends out there! Hope you are having a great week.
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