As I listened to one of my favorite singers, Kelly Clarkson, her lyrics struck me differently than any other time. This could be for a couple different reasons; Either I had been lip syncing way to seriously to even pay attention to anything but my totally awesome impersonation of Kelly Clarkson, OR she just added this one line into the song today. Just for me. That's probably it, right?
The song's titled, "A Moment Like This". It's a love song (of course) but the line that hit my heart was, "Everything changes, but beauty remains".
I repeated this line over and over in my head thinking, Kelly...you silly girl. People get older, form wrinkles, gray hair, and start wearing Muumus... how can beauty remain, if everything changes?
Let me tell you how.
I've come to the conclusion that we, as humans, are like Tootsie pops.
(Stay with me here, I'm going somewhere with this)
Tootsie pops come in different colors and shapes. They seem to have a hard, protective shell, but if dropped, they shatter into a million pieces. The tootsie roll center that is protected by this "outer shell" is ALWAYS the best part. Unfortunately, if a little fuzzy gets stuck on the outer shell, the whole sucker is seen and "dirty" and thrown out.
See where I'm going with this?
We all have little fuzzy's. Maybe we're not the right shape, or our nose is a little too big. Maybe we had a bad hair cut, or we tripped walking to science class. These "fuzzy's" shouldn't be how the world sees us.
I think too many people get "stuck" on OUR outer shell. Our bodies. Our hair. Our height.
The list goes on and on.
What's sad is that sometimes, when people get stuck, they forget that the best part of US is inside.
Our heart. Our soul.
Remember that old quote, "Beauty is only skin deep?"
So wrong.
Beauty IS our heart and our soul. What's on the outside is just the protective coating. But sometimes our protection isn't so strong and we shatter into a million pieces because our shell isn't seen as "perfect". But NOTHING is perfect. What we must do is accept it. Accept the fact that perfection doesn't exist and embrace every imperfection that we have because that makes us, us.
After being shattered into a million pieces for not being someone else's vision of "perfect" and watching others shatter around me, I made myself a promise that went something like this:
Surround yourself with people who look past your shell. Who set your soul on fire. Who make your heart so happy it could pop out of your chest. Because everything WILL change, but beauty, YOUR beauty, will always remain.
I see people now for the light they shine on my world. For the laughs they make me laugh and the smiles that make my cheeks ache. I see them as generous, caring, loving, thoughtful, silly, and creative, instead of "short", "weird", "skinny""clumsy", or any other physical label.
My heart is lighter since I've made this promise. I don't judge. I just live.
Give it a try.
See how your heart feels.
