Be the beautiful person that God created: You!

Let's talk about bullies. There's this saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Yeah, that's just not true at all. Words not only can hurt, but they are often more damaging than actions. Actions stay outward, on our body. But words can come into our hearts and souls and wound us from the inside, so that we stop seeing the beautiful, unique, special person that God created: and that amazing person is you!

What we often don't realize until we're much older (took me years to figure it out) is that we are the happiest when we are our authentic selves, the unique person that God created us to be. We all have God-given talents, but sometimes we're afraid to show them. Sometimes, in order to be liked, we don't show who we really are. We hide who we are because we're afraid that we won't be accepted. Let's be honest, we all go above and beyond to be liked. And sometimes, in the process, we lose that special person that God created. But, no matter what we do or who we try to please, there will always be somebody who doesn't like us, accept us, or just plain hates us. And that can be so frustrating and hurtful. For some reason, our immediate response is to say, "what's wrong with me?" We get down on ourselves and we somehow start to think that there's something wrong with us. Take it from someone who was bulllied: that's just not true.

It took me a awhile, but I've learned the secret of life. And I'm going to share it with you. The question, "what's wrong with me?" isn't the right question. It's really, "what's wrong with them?" Why is it that we let people we don't know well, or hardly care about, get under our skin and make us doubt ourselves? Why do their opinions matter so much?

And then when people who truly love us tell us that we're awesome, we say, "no we're not, look what so and so has said." No matter what you do, there will be somebody who doesn't like you. It comes down to this--what do you think of yourself? Ask yourself--if somebody who is mean and awful to you doesn't like you... imagine what that says about you! And in the end, why do we care about what mean people think of us? Why does that even matter? You know what does matter? What your family thinks of you. What your friends think of you. And what Jesus thinks of you. And you know what--He loves you. Just the way you are!

Yes, we should be kind and loving to everyone. We need to love with the love of Christ. But we also need to love ourselves with the love of Christ. That means we need to stand up for ourselves in a respectful, assertive manner. Turning the other cheek doesn't mean we just let people walk all over us. It means we treat them with respect and love, but that we also treat ourselves with respect and love. There's a balance. And the trick is to find that balance.

I’ve met a lot of people. And you know what?  I have never met anyone who wasn't special or amazing in some way. You are, too. I guarantee it. So let your light shine. Be who you are. Love yourself. Remember that you are worthwhile. Show who you are. Don't be afraid. And don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not good enough.

Remember. You're not better than anyone else--but nobody is better than you