I was so inspired by this post from joyful on purpose … I just had to share it. Let us see and love our own beauty we posses. We are loved and we are beautiful.

 Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.  ~Jim Carrey

I’ve been thinking about beauty lately… how obsessed we are with beauty and the current standard. For me, beauty is so easily seen in nature: the glorious colors of flowers, the texture of moss or tree bark, even the cycle of birth and death as the seasons change. I find it much more burdensome to see beauty in people, especially myself. Like many people, I can point out every single flaw in myself, all the imperfections that don’t quite meet the definition of beauty. (Who gets to define it, anyway? Who are “they” and can we fire them?) Trying to reach the acceptable standard has taken a toll on me over the years, and it is still difficult to change my mindset even as I become more and more aware of what true beauty is. It is a daily chore, a conscious effort, for me to wake up and have a healthy view of myself and others.

I wish we were all more like flowers. The quote above rings true in my heart and my mind. Flowers don’t worry at all about how they will open up, how they will be seen as the petals unfold and reveal what is inside. Flowers also turn toward the light without thought, craving its warmth and knowing that it provides life as well as illumination.

As human beings living in a gorgeous world, surrounded by beautiful objects, we should take better care of ourselves and of each other by being less obsessed with unrealistic standards. A geranium never tries to be a rose. A thistle doesn’t strive to be like a lily. Each one is simply beautiful in its own way, its own very perfect way. They all turn toward the light, open up, and radiate beauty. I wish, for myself and for you, to follow the way of the flowers. I want to turn my face toward the light, all that is positive and wonderful. I want to smile and open up my heart and my life, letting the beauty within reveal itself. Perfect in its own way, just as it is.

-written by joyful on purpose