I wish I could go back in time and find the 15 year old me. The one who was so certain that she just wasn’t enough. That somehow she didn’t measure up.
I’d take her face in my hands, study her blue eyes and tell her.
She’s not fat.
She’s not weak
She’s not scared.
She’s not wrong.
She’s not stupid.
She’s not a disappointment.
She doesn’t need to change anything about herself. I’d tell her the secret life lesson I’ve discovered. Here it is. What anyone else thinks about her is their own problem. Not hers.
Because she’s a perfect creature. God’s creation. Rare. Shining. New. I wish she could see herself as I do. Her awkward beauty. So unaware. Long hair in thick ropes of sunshine when she runs. Pink nail polish chipping from where she bites her nails. Dimpled cheeks. Silver braces illuminating a shy, uncertain smile. She is Bonnie Bell watermelon lip smackers and Orange creamsicle summer. She is light itself.
I wish I could tell her all these things so that she would really know. That she would be fortified against those who want to make her feel less than. I’d like for her to understand that she doesn’t need to be anything other than herself.
That she is enough just as she is.
Life lessons that I know now after 40. I only wish that 15 year old had known too.
(Visited 99 times, 1 visits today)
Comments
darla henderson barrsays
at 15, you could have just asked me what I thought of you. At 15, you were a wonderful person, full of warmth and laughter, and a good friend. I never thought you were fat, I was the fat girl. ##Zebras4Ever
You are so sweet to share that! I think at 15 all we see is what’s wrong with you. I just wish we’d known then how special we were and still are. Thank you xoxo Go Z’s!!!
at 15, you could have just asked me what I thought of you. At 15, you were a wonderful person, full of warmth and laughter, and a good friend. I never thought you were fat, I was the fat girl. ##Zebras4Ever
You are so sweet to share that! I think at 15 all we see is what’s wrong with you. I just wish we’d known then how special we were and still are. Thank you xoxo Go Z’s!!!
Thanks for the share! I wish that we as mothers can help our daughters learn to value themselves.