The Real You Blesses Others
A little girl stands in front of a mirror. She's so much smaller than all the other little girls her age-but she doesn't realize it. She's frantically pulling clothes over her head. Her feathery blond hair wraps around her head and stands on end from the static. Finally she's dressed...tops, skirts, and other little girl things are now strewn on the floor of her room. She's trying so hard. She wants to dress and act just like all the older girls, just like all the adults.
A teenage girl stands in front of a mirror. She's grown to fulfill the expectations of all the adults, she's grown to become just like the older girls. But she's not happy. She tries everyday to keep being everything she's "supposed" to be. She hides, and puts on a face to match everybody else. She learns to fear who she really is. She learns to turn away from things that scare her, she is ruled by her insecurities and fears.
Years later the mask is peeled away. She makes a last attempt to hold everything in, but the mask isn't holding anything back anymore. There's a scar. Lines and bruises from years of the masks wear are left behind.
All I ever wanted was to love. I was just a little girl who wanted to smile at everybody and draw pictures and practice my cursive. I wanted to sing and dance and be loud and crack jokes. But that's not where life led me-until now. I held everything inside-all of me. Maybe it's because I was young and impressionable, maybe it's because there was nothing to push me out of my comfort zone, maybe it was a prison I made for myself, but I think it was because there was no flame strong enough to burn off the mask. And the flame came.
It was like over the course of one year everything I thought I knew, everything I thought would never change, everything I thought I would never experience happened. It was like my life had always been a completed rubix cube and now something bigger than me was mixing it up. It all fell apart and it was ugly.
The scar was there, I couldn't hide it anymore. And as my life continued to change, a couple things happened. Forgiveness. People forgave me, and I forgave people. I learned to love like never before. I learned to love everyone who I disagreed with, everyone who disagreed with me. People came out of the most unexpected places and touched my heart. It's like they had always been there waiting to help put me back together. Healing started, learning started. The real me was now on the scene. And it's all still happening.
This last month someone told me, "The real you blesses others". I want to pass the message on and tell you that the real you blesses others. I don't know if you're spending your energy trying to wear the same mask as everyone else, or your experiencing the same flame burning away your mask like I did. Or maybe you want to embrace who you really are and what you really love, but you're scared. Well this message is for you. The real you is going to bless others. And isn't that the goal? To build up and spread love and creativity and use our talents and gifts?
Your scars can tell more stories than any amount of what you think other people want to see. Someone out there thinks whatever your insecure about is beautiful. Someone out there will be blessed when you lay down your mask and speak up. Someone out there needs to be inspired by your courage to stand out. Someone out there needs to know they're not alone. Someone out there needs your forgiveness. Someone out there needs to know that loving unconditionally is okay. Someone out there needs to see your scars and know that healing will come. Someone will always be blessed by the real you. The real you blesses others.
*If you made it this far...thanks for reading! I hoped this jumbled entry made sense. This is where I'm at right now, it's definitely a battle. But I hope you can maybe relate and somehow grow or be encouraged.
A teenage girl stands in front of a mirror. She's grown to fulfill the expectations of all the adults, she's grown to become just like the older girls. But she's not happy. She tries everyday to keep being everything she's "supposed" to be. She hides, and puts on a face to match everybody else. She learns to fear who she really is. She learns to turn away from things that scare her, she is ruled by her insecurities and fears.
Years later the mask is peeled away. She makes a last attempt to hold everything in, but the mask isn't holding anything back anymore. There's a scar. Lines and bruises from years of the masks wear are left behind.
All I ever wanted was to love. I was just a little girl who wanted to smile at everybody and draw pictures and practice my cursive. I wanted to sing and dance and be loud and crack jokes. But that's not where life led me-until now. I held everything inside-all of me. Maybe it's because I was young and impressionable, maybe it's because there was nothing to push me out of my comfort zone, maybe it was a prison I made for myself, but I think it was because there was no flame strong enough to burn off the mask. And the flame came.
It was like over the course of one year everything I thought I knew, everything I thought would never change, everything I thought I would never experience happened. It was like my life had always been a completed rubix cube and now something bigger than me was mixing it up. It all fell apart and it was ugly.
The scar was there, I couldn't hide it anymore. And as my life continued to change, a couple things happened. Forgiveness. People forgave me, and I forgave people. I learned to love like never before. I learned to love everyone who I disagreed with, everyone who disagreed with me. People came out of the most unexpected places and touched my heart. It's like they had always been there waiting to help put me back together. Healing started, learning started. The real me was now on the scene. And it's all still happening.
This last month someone told me, "The real you blesses others". I want to pass the message on and tell you that the real you blesses others. I don't know if you're spending your energy trying to wear the same mask as everyone else, or your experiencing the same flame burning away your mask like I did. Or maybe you want to embrace who you really are and what you really love, but you're scared. Well this message is for you. The real you is going to bless others. And isn't that the goal? To build up and spread love and creativity and use our talents and gifts?
Your scars can tell more stories than any amount of what you think other people want to see. Someone out there thinks whatever your insecure about is beautiful. Someone out there will be blessed when you lay down your mask and speak up. Someone out there needs to be inspired by your courage to stand out. Someone out there needs to know they're not alone. Someone out there needs your forgiveness. Someone out there needs to know that loving unconditionally is okay. Someone out there needs to see your scars and know that healing will come. Someone will always be blessed by the real you. The real you blesses others.
*If you made it this far...thanks for reading! I hoped this jumbled entry made sense. This is where I'm at right now, it's definitely a battle. But I hope you can maybe relate and somehow grow or be encouraged.
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