Who Am I?

There is a commercial on Facebook that shows a mirror that random women look into at the mall and instead of images being seen the women see words like brave, powerful, and beautiful. Another commercial I have seen shows women getting onto a scale and intend of their weight they see words of encouragement as well. So how does this relate to what I wanted to write about? Lately I have been thinking about the way that I see myself versus the way that others see me. When looking through magazines, watching television, listening to current music, and even people watching at the local mall or grocery store women are hit with images of what women are supposed to look like. If national pop culture is any indication than all women would be a size 0 to 6, be at least 5 feet 5 inches, have long hair that is done at all times, wear perfect make-up (even when going to the gym or cleaning house), and be submissive to men. So all of this has got me pretty down on myself because if you know me I really don't fit into any of those categories. I am certainly not even close to a size 0-6, my hair is short and kinky curly, I only wear make-up if going to church or out with friends or the hubby, I am on the taller side for women, and I am far from submissive to my man. In order to get a more realistic view of myself I asked my family how they see me. Some words that came to their minds were selfless, caring, loving, honest (bluntly honest), sexy, cuddly, fun, soft, curly hair, nice feet, organized, forgiving, and compassionate. After reading over these characteristics I noticed that very few of them were physical traits. My family looks beyond the outer crust of me and really sees the inner me, faults and all. So what does this all mean? It means that we as women need to stop looking at pop culture to define who we are and to stop being so down on ourselves and instead really look into the good qualities of ourselves. I will keep this list of qualities that my family made close to my heart and reference them whenever I am starting to doubt myself.