I am beautiful, and so are you.

I have recently come to the realization that I am beautiful, and so is everyone else. This may come as a shock, but it was really, truly, something I simply didn't believe. Well, I take that back, I found it far easier to see the beauty in others, than the beauty within myself. But that turned into an unhealthy obsession. I would obsess with the beauty of other people, compare, and in turn cut myself down. I know i'm not the only one who has sturggled with this, nor am I the only one to overcome. But I am so glad that my Savior has broke the chains and brought me freedom.

My definition of beauty is this= the uniqueness of an individual that sets them apart from anyone else.

The fact of the matter is, not ever in the history of the entire world will there ever be another human being just like you. While you may resemble another person, or have similar personality traits, you are you. That is it, that is all. Trying to even comprehend that before you came around there was no you, and long after you're gone, there will never be another you is near impossible. If that doesn't make you feel beautiful, I don't know what could. Or maybe this will. Have you ever thought about the fact that YOU are a piece of our incredible God in human form. The Bible states that we are made in his image, if that is true, and the Bible is truth, then YOU are a reflection of God. How could that not be beautiful? And how sad that we are taught or influenced to compare ourselves to other people, whether that be through status, success, looks, etc. Because no matter who you are or where you're from, your beauty is astounding. Instead of trying to alter the unique things about you, why not embrace them? Instead of trying to alter your body into what is "perfect," why not realize that the only thing that ever attained that was Jesus Christ himself. Isnted of feeling inadequite, know that you serve the creator of the stars, and if he is alive in you, you can overcome anything. I for one, am done believing the lies i've been told. I am more than enough, because I have Jesus in me. Think about the beauty of a new born baby. They are precious, perfect. A babies parents are always bragging about their beauty. They're always talking about what their baby does. They're so in awe with the life they brouht into existance. They dwell in the goodness, not the flaws. Do you realize that that is how our Savior looks upon us? He doesn't think that you're anything but wonderful. He created you. You have probably heard this a thousand times, and will probably continue hearing it for the rest of your life. But the thing we need to remember more than anything else, is to believe it.

Now that it's almost been a year...

There's the old cliche saying "Time flies." While i've found that this, like most cliche's is true, I think it leaves something out. I think it might be more accurate to say something like "Time flies, but things change more than you ever thought possible." To me that would be the ultimate truth in my life. But then again, maybe that's it, maybe this is only reconcieable with my life.

As I sit here reflecting on where I was this time a year ago, i'm in actual awe of how much things have changed. I'm blown away by how different circumstances are. How different I am. How I never could've imagined that I would be in the place I am today. Because what I thought, and from the way things seemed to be going, where I am now isn't even in the same hemisphere.I'm always amazed that when you reach a point in life where you really can't imagine things going better, God grabs ahold of you and your entire world and shakes everything up. Suddenly you're flying upside down in a spiral with no sight of the end and you don't have any idea of what's going to happen next. I never would've thought that a year ago i'd be having the thoughts I am. I couldn't have imagined reflecting on the year I just lived, the hardest year of my life, and saying that I am truly grateful for every moment. A year ago, I was anticipating so much. I suppose I was cheating in the sense that I knew this past year was going to be eventful, life changing, the most important year of my life. Granted, this was only becuase a year ago, I was getting ready to do some amazing things that I had only dreamed about forever. However, even though I knew it would be the most eventful year of my life to date, I didn't think it would be anything like it was. I think back to how nervous I was at this time a year ago, I was so unsure and dependent on things that I shouldn't have been dependent on. I was so sure I knew who I was, and what life probably held for me. Little did I know, that everything I thought I knew was about to change completly. This year has been the hardest, most challenging, difficult, hurtful year i've ever lived. I never thought I would go through heartbreak and not only live through it, but learn from it. I never thought that I would reach such a place of self-loathing and rock bottom, and have to cry out with everything I am to my Savior. I never thought that absolutely everything I ever believed would be questioned, and that I would truly have to fight for truth. I never thought I would meet the people I did, experience the things I have, and find a deep love and compassion for mankind. I never would've tought that I would go from being sure of who I was, to having everything change, to having to piece together who I was, who I am now, and who I am going to be. And while i'm not through the fire completly yet, I see the end of this chapter coming near. It's completly ironic actually, that it has almost been a year. I'm hoping that this new year brings the joy that i've felt i've lost, the peace that I long to bask in, and the ability to trust in love again. Through it all, there has been one thing that has remained the same. My Savior has never let me go. I'm not sure what this coming year, or the years after this one hold. I don't know if anything i'm anticipating will actually happen, but I do know this, I serve the creator of absolutely everything. I am so miniscule in the grand scheme of everything, yet he treasures my life and my world. He holds it all, and everything that happens is part of his bigger plan. So wherever I am a year from now, reflecting on what happened in this year, I know that no matter whatever challenges, whatever victories, whatever happens my Savior is crafting each second. And that whatever I think should be, is nothing compared to what he knows should be.