~Thought For The Day~ Hey Beautiful, Yes, YOU! ©

     I remember being the gawky kid, tall, broad shoulders, and what my grandma called “big boned”.

I always got picked first for Red Rover and kickball, but I always went home and looked at myself, and wished I looked like the skinny little girls, with narrow shoulders and toothpick legs.

I voiced this to my Mother once, and it is a moment that I will never forget, because it came back to light years later. She marched me in front of her full length mirror, and had me look at myself.

Saying nothing at first, she stood behind me smiling.

I finally interjected, “But, Mama, look at my shoulders!” “All the better for people to lean on, baby”, she quickly answered.

‘But, I have stupid ol’ big bones!” “All the better for you to be noticed, honey!”  Her tone was now becoming a little sterner.

She pointed out my hair, my eyes that change colors, my lips that she bragged that were just like hers, my long eyelashes, and my tall stature.

She leaned in and said, “If you aren’t beautiful, then I don’t know who is. Why in God’s name would you want to look like everyone else? You have your own unique beauty.  Watch and see Tesi, you will be a knockout.”

I never really saw all that, but her words stuck with me, and I never cared what people thought of my looks.

Reaching 40, and becoming more aware of people, I have begun to notice more things about people, and their learned behavior.

I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw two photos posted.

One was a full body shot of a friend, who is very curvy, with some meat on her bones, and very gorgeous. I looked at the comments, and all of them were so generic: “aww, you have such a pretty face”, etc. Now I scroll down further, and see a skinny chick with almost the same pose, and the replies hurt me. Hurt, because I felt sorry for our world, she had comments like “WOW, you are stunning, why aren’t you single”, and every person was talking about her rack, her hotness, and I sat here and cried.

I cried for our society.

Why is someone not gorgeous or beautiful because of what a size tag says?

Our society has become programmed to think that women are gorgeous if they have rock hard abs, a chest like a porn star, and a rear end that looks almost like a cartoon.

Yeah, did I mention, I am not built like that? I am curvy, but by God almighty, I am a beautiful person. Why? Not because I have a kicking rack, or a tail end that you can bounce quarters off of, but because I have so much more going for me.

Size does not equal beauty.

I have met some really gorgeous people by the standards of our now society, and they didn’t impress me at all; they were rude, mean and ugly inside, not all of them, but some. True beauty comes from within.

I am sickened that so many people gorgeous people walk this earth, and feel so ugly and ashamed because of the stupid stereotype that television, magazines and the media have set.

I also see this among people as they age, and that infuriates me, hey so what if someone is gorgeous at 21, can they maintain that beauty and still be stunning at 70? That is real beauty.

I have seen pics of men with rock hard abs and chiseled chins, ok for a moment they are ok, but give me a fella with a gorgeous soul and a poochie belly, and if that fella has a brain, I am highly attracted to them. It has nothing to do with the tag in his jeans.

I am sick to death of the standards that are set.

Kids and adults are made to feel shamed, for not looking just like everyone else, and that makes me want to scream.

A mindless set of boobs and some dude with 6 pack abs don’t make you dazzling.

Dazzling comes from an inner beauty, but there are so many folks who can’t see it, because of the crap we see online, in the stores or on TV.

I don’t have fake boobs, hell, I don’t have big ones, but my perky set will still be rocking at 70 so there!

Now, let’s go back to a couple of years ago.

My Mother was dying, and in my eyes she was just as stunning as she had always been. I watched her struggle to that same full length mirror; she had tears softly streaming down her tired face.

I stood behind her and said ‘What’s wrong Mama.”

She pointed out her wrinkles, her now slumping shoulders and the gray hair she gracefully wore.

I said “Mama, you are so pretty, look at those lips, I have a sensational set that you gave me, your shoulders, shoot Ma, I can hug you easier, and those wrinkles are smiles lines, and the signs of a life well lived.” She said “Look at these age spots”, Oh Mama those are pretty freckles that you earn as you age.”

I kissed her cheek while she watched me from behind, and I said “You are gorgeous Mama, and I see it in those big blue eyes that still sparkle.” I said,” Mama you will always be my pretty girl, just like I am yours.” We hugged and she cried and smiled that stunning smile, and we both felt so very pretty.

Mama died shortly after, but the day before she left me, I cried and even though she couldn’t speak, I told her how very gorgeous she was, and I ended it with “I love you my pretty girl.”

She was, age spots, graying hair and laugh lines.

Her beauty developed from a 21 year old into a stunning 65 year old woman who could still captivate anyone with just her presence.

STOP looking at all the outsides people, you will never find a perfect person, perfection doesn’t exists, but being beautiful can last a lifetime, and that comes from deep down inside and what kind of soul you carry inside that warms the hearts of others, built by how you treat others and the light you shine upon this world.

I am big boned, I have stretch marks from giving birth to two amazing sons and I have an outlook on the world that can outshine any cleavage or bouncy butt.  I am dazzling and so are you!

Be real people, and those who aren't too shallow to see it will appreciate it.

Now I am gonna take my big boned, broad shouldered self outside to enjoy the stars!

Here are my thoughts!

 ©

Teresa ;)