How To Love Your Selfie Inside and Out

Do you feel beautiful? I mean really beautiful … 

Yep, that’s me. I got caught in a wicked wind storm and my daughter, Hannah decided I looked sooo crazy, she’d take the best photo of the year of her mom. The pressure to look thin and beautiful is an ongoing issue so many of us moms and daughters face every day. We see it all day long on television, magazines, and movies. I look at my two daughters and wonder what they feel deep inside about how they look. They are both stunningly beautiful inside and out. I see their beauty, their dad sees their beauty, but do they see their beauty?

82% of teen girls wish they could lose weight. 

How in the world can we compete against the constant pressure we feel in the media to look perfect. I was at Target yesterday with Hannah and we both noticed the cover magazine on the rack for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. All I could say was … good night girls, are you kidding me?!!! There’s no competition. I could never, ever, ever, not in a million years wear a heart-shaped bikini and look like that. Not even in my dreams could I look like those three young, beautiful models. There’s not a photo shop in the world who could make my bum fit into one of those. The big news flash: In real life, normal life we can never look that perfect. It’s not possible to have it all together inside and out and be the perfect wife, mom, or daughter. We are flawed, but we also know the truth. God made us just the way we are. Now that’s a perfect promise I can believe in and count on.

Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. (1 Peter 3:4)

How can we learn to love our selfie inside and out? Here are a few simple ways:

1. Thank the Lord every day for making you just the way you are.
2. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
3. Stay confident.
4. Eat healthy.
5. Set goals for yourself.
6. Take pride in who you are as an individual.
7. Make time for yourself.
8. Hang out with friends.
9. Love who you are no matter what the odds are.
10. Working out and taking time to build a strong body can really help physically and mentally.

I believe the most beautiful thing we can teach our daughters is cultivating their inner beauty. A few days ago, Zoie asked me if I thought her hair was beautiful. I always appreciate these precious times to validate our children and the normal feelings they feel about their bodies. I hugged her tight and told her that she had beautiful hair … just like a princess. I want her to have a healthy body image and it starts at home with me. I want to set the example for my daughters that I love my self inside and out. I want to be healthy and happy and make good choices on caring for my body. I want my children to see me enjoying life and not worrying about the outside so much as the inside. I have a hubby that loves me from head to toe. I’m very blessed to have a man that reminds me every day that I’m beautiful, even when I might not always feel like that.

I reminded Zoie that God made her just the way she is and He made her beautiful. I added that I especially loved her beautiful smile and sparkly brown eyes. She smiled and ran off back to playing outside. She was practicing her cartwheels and had rolled in the dead, winter’s grass for an hour. Her hair had come unraveled and she was covered in grass. Zoie looked beautiful inside and even wearing her grassy princess crown. (one of Zoie’s famous selfies… #littlediva)

How are you teaching your girls (and you) how to love your selfie inside and out?

I thought you might enjoy a few family pics from my iPhone. Zoie loves to steal my phone and take random selfies. #zoieselfie #mybeautifulfamily