Looking at the mirror and a thought came to mind,
“I look fat.”
“Another pimple just pop. What’s going on with my skin?”
“Oh no, fine lines started to show.”
“My nose bridge is not high enough.”
“My teeth look weird.”
“My legs are short.”
The series of perceived imperfections seems endless.
I heard those words from women, even those whom society deems conventionally beautiful.
In a moment (or many moments) of our lives, we feel the urge to seek for perfection. But in our quest for this unattainable goal, we fail to realize that we are already perfect in our imperfection.
Rachel often asks me,
“Why are there so many moles on your face?”
In response, I would offer a silly quip,
"Well, grandma forgot to cover me when I was born, and flies pooped on my face”. She liked it initially till she was old enough to roll eyes at me whenever I was giving that silly answer.
In my teens, I didn’t think much of it until my mom said,” Let’s do something about it.”
It was for both aesthetic and "facial mole reading" reasons (I know). If a mole is positioned where your tears flow through, you will cry a lot in your life. That's what they said. I am not too sure if it’s the moles or if it’s just me.
So, mole removal, here we went. A few years went by, and some of them grew back. People asked me casually about it, stirring up my insecurity. Maybe it means that I have imperfections all over my face. And yes, imperfections should not be seen.
That was around the same time I went back to the dating world. Then came the day of a certain date that I'll never forget.
A first date.
We were talking and he started to notice my moles.
"Your face has quite a bit of moles," he remarked, "couldn't see that in your profile picture”.
I started to feel really anxious about that. “ I know right, it’s just too much”,I smile awkwardly, searching for ways to change the topic.
His gaze was softened, and he smiled at me and said,
“No, I like it. It adds character to your features”.
Oh wow, those 10 simple words surely made an impact.
It wasn’t something I expected.
For almost 30 years of living on earth, someone told me that my imperfection could be good.
It makes me, ME.
I wanted to hear just 3 words instead, “You look pretty” and the moment I could hear it, my ego would be checked.
For nearly 3 decades, I have sought perfection and validation.
It was no longer the same.
What happened that day planted a very first seed in me. A seed of Authentic Confidence. It blossomed into Inner Peace, the ability to trust myself and my own judgment. The ability to see myself for who I truly am.
The courage to see my imperfections as it is, with loving eyes.
No criticism.
No sweat.
No fear.
I appreciate beauty. As a woman, I love to look at other gorgeous women (who doesn’t!) but what I truly find attractive is a woman that radiates with confidence.
Authentic Confidence.
A woman who knows who she is and what she wants. A woman might not live by the social standard of traditional beauty. Still, she loves herself, including the pretty parts and not-so-pretty parts. She knows she will never be perfect. And it's fine too.
It’s making her, HER.
She is imperfectly perfect.
Do you love yourself just the way you are?
That's my question for you :)
Drop me a big YES in the comment if you agree on this!
With love,
Tiffany
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