I realized long ago that having the right self-image and self-esteem are important components in a woman’s life and that of young girls. The lack of self-esteem and a poor self-image has done so much damage largely due to the false definition tied into what “society” calls “beautiful”. How do you define it? Is it that model on TV who probably looks nothing like you? Is that what real beauty is? It’s really sad because a lot of girls have grown up thinking just that — believing that largely unspoken, misleading definition of what being beautiful is. This has scarred many for life because they couldn’t live up to that myth. Poor self-esteem was the result and for some came depression, eating disorders and unhealthy obsessive behavior. A woman around my age (I’m now 48) recently told me she’s been struggling with the image she’s had of herself all of her life. Sometimes it’s outsiders who contributed to such a feeling and other times it’s been parents or other family members, not realizing that their words were powerfully influencing that child in a negative way that would stay with them throughout their childhood and into adulthood. Our behaviors/actions as adults have usually been determined by the experiences of our past. There comes a time though when we have to face the disappointments and injustices of our past head on. Confront them by taking a good look into ourselves and find out what it is that causes us today to think less of ourselves or to shy away from others when the fact is no one is better or less important than we are.

I’ve co-written a book titled: ‘I Didn’t Know I Was Beautiful: The Real & Raw Facts That Every Woman on The Planet Should Know’. It’s a collaborative effort with my teenage daughter (she’s nineteen), who at eighteen-years-old established her first online business and now has three of them that are doing very well. She even makes her very own line of lip glosses, lip balms and scrubs! She, neither I was born with a silver spoon in our mouth. We know about struggles, hard work and determination to succeed and when we fail (which we all do), to try again… and again. She’s also working her way through college as a Law student and fighting against the barriers that have appeared before her. Hopefully, this book can inspire other young girls and older women to strive in the midst of adversity and to prove the naysayers wrong. Growing up these days as a teenager is rough because there’s so much coming against the youth in all different directions, but having a good self-esteem and a clear focus as to what you want to achieve makes the impossible dream possible. If the image you have of yourself is poor as a young girl or as an adult, it stagnates you, making it so difficult to get ahead because most of the time, you’re subconsciously enveloped by thoughts that you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough or that you don’t have what it takes to make it. Hopefully, this book will help a lot of people to see the truth and discard all the lies that have been spoken throughout the years.

I will try to be more active on this blog as this topic is so important. I was once a shy teenager. I was teased when I was a small child and know the pain of that experience and never forgot it. When I became a young businesswoman I realized the importance of being able to speak confidently to people if I was going to make my business work. I worked on myself and since then, have never looked back. That’s just one example. I hope as we reflect more deeply on what matters to girls and women, we’d be a positive influence on each other. If you’re interested in the book, you can find it here as an ebook and in paperback at Amazon or on other platforms here.

Until next time, take care, be safe and in spite of what you’ve been told, I want you to know that you are beautiful.

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