The other day my little girl, Sara, came home from school with a seriously dejected look on her face.
“What is the matter?” I asked.
“Curan said I am not beautiful,” she said to me. The rest of the evening, she lamented about the fact this boy told her she was not beautiful....how sad.
I sat her down and explained that it doesn’t matter what this boy or anyone else ever says about her. She has to know in her heart and soul that she is beautiful and not to let other’s opinion affect her so profoundly.
But, as we all know this is easier said than done.
Magazines and television do nothing but throw tall, thin, perfect-looking people in our face constantly, but the key is to know who you are and accept it-because we are all beautiful to someone and should be, especially to ourselves.
A recent presentation “Putting Your Best Face Forward” by author Woody Winfree at the Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville luncheon focused on that very topic and we all came away with a different sense of self.
We learned how the cultural environment perpetuates a distorted, narrow and extremely dangerous beauty ideal. She offered real-life solutions to inspire us to negate the cultural ideal and to name beauty on our own terms.
In the real estate business, an air of confidence and security are a must to ensure customer’s trust in the biggest investment of their life.
“Have you ever let your view of your appearance keep you from doing what you want?” asked Winfree.
She said the “perfect body” image makes us feel bad because we feel that we need to look like that...and the fact is that no one is perfect.
“Ninety-seven percent of us don’t fit into that ‘perfect’ category,” said Winfree. “We spend hours and money in an attempt to fit that ‘perfect’ description.”
Also, many of the images we see on magazines and television aren’t real. They are manufactured. When we realize that, we can get a grip on reality and understand who we are and what makes us beautiful.
Winfree said what we need to do is to build each other up, not diminish each other. We need to understand how those images chip away at our self-esteem and always put your best face forward.
“Count your blessings, not calories,” she said. “Embrace your worth and value and you will realize your fullest potential.”