Compare Yourself Only to You…Be the Best You!
Perspective is a tricky little word. We use it all the time. In Latin it means to see through but more than anything we use it as a matter of opinion or how someone “sees it.” But it is often used to help visualize a rendering implying this definition:
“The art of drawing two solid objects on a two dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point. “
Although pretty techy sounding and more complex than the first more simplified meaning, I found this extremely interesting and worth pondering. Worth it since this sounds like what we as women do every day, all day long. We take our pencil and notepad and first sketch out ourselves, usually with not much accuracy and typically largely exaggerated on the less attractive features. Then we carry out our day, notepad close by constantly and most unconsciously sketching other women that we encounter throughout the day right next to our own. And we do this all day long, every day. Oh, many types make the list but most are the ones you love to hate. You know her…the woman that is taller or thinner. She has a beautifully sculpted face or body or worse, both! Maybe she just has a pop-star personality and a big gorgeous smile that makes her the social magnet that you always wanted to be. Wow! What you have before you are two totally different renderings. One is a Beauty and, well, you are the ugly Beast!
I find much irony in this daily perspective of how we view others and ourselves. By definition, this should produce a “right impression” yet it falls short in so many ways. Proper perspective is certainly lost when only outward appearance is considered and the “seeing through” is disregarded altogether. This not only produces a striving in our minds and souls to “be more” but it overlooks that within each and every woman there is a heart with a story. Whole or broken, restored or renegade, sweet or bitter…there is story, a novel worth reading. She has experienced life, good or bad and is a plethora of information as well as inspiration.
Yes, INSPIRATION!
I have to tell you that I am not speaking as someone who has never been in this place. Believe me, I have stacks of notebooks with rendered comparisons from past years. Not only have I been there but developed an eating disorder as a result of wrong perspective. As women we will always have that tendency to “covet” what another woman may have but there is a healthier way both physically and mentally to channel these desires. As I have matured and searched my own heart, I have learned the art of reading women. After beating myself up for years and striving to be everyone else except whom I was created to be, I gave myself permission to be me, to begin enjoying the true beauty that I possess and the beauty that I can offer other women as well. This freedom came when I confronted my insecurities and developed a mindset that I would no longer compare and compete. Moving forward I would look at every woman as an opportunity for me to either encourage or be encouraged, motivate or be motivated, inspire or be inspired. I would learn from her and she from me if she were open to it. I cannot tell you how liberating that was to my soul. It’s where real beauty is penned; each and every page in my notebook became life giving rather then life wrecking, revealing and unveiling the “why” behind the “who” of each precious woman. It became about learning and gleaning from her setbacks that have now made her determined, her wounded heart that has been repaired and now unbreakable or her victories that have solidified her new course and established undeniable strength and empowerment. It’s the real stuff behind her outer beauty.
Once you begin to face your insecurities and embrace being beautifully you, lost perspective is found and you realize that we really all have the same goal, to love and be loved and to feel and look as beautiful as we can. As women to women, you become unified instead of divided. Information shared is inspiration caught! Kind of like Girl Power…
So as the holiday season approaches and gifts are being bought for your family and friends, give yourself the greatest gift of all…the gift where real beauty resides… the gift of Proper Perspective! Happy reading….