Alright y’all, pull up a seat and get ready to be offended. LOL, I’m totally kidding, but this post might ruffle a few feathers. 
Something about this season in my life has me really in tune with how many women get so caught up in the comparison game. I’m not going to blame it on the new generation because if anything it’s my own generations fault. Finding fault doesn’t really get us anywhere though, does it? 
So here we go, I’m just going to say it. As women we have become unbelievably salty about anyone else’s success and we don’t even know it. Seriously, just go with me here. (If you dare)
How many of you see a beautiful and successful woman and immediately think, good for her? Be honest you immediately self evaluate and begin to take stock of your own style, makeup, hair, body. You see her at Target in her perfectly distructed boyfriend jeans, the new blush colored Addidas Ultra Boosts, sun kissed skin, perfect complexion, contour so sharp it can cut, Highlight popping. Ugh. Puke in my mouth she’s probably a miserable person in a horrible relationship and I bet her kids are hellions. She probably doesn’t even raise them, her nanny does. 
Sound familiar? Be honest! Why can’t we appreciate a beautiful woman and give her a mental, You go girl? I’ll tell you why. It’s all goes back to comparison. We would rather put her down in our own mind because she makes us feel less beautiful. Why do we feel less beautiful? Because we’ve spent years putting ourselves down.
Somewhere along the way we were taught that it’s not polite to even accept a compliment. We were taught That it makes you sound full of yourself. It’s better to dismiss it and put yourself down at least 3 times afterward. There is something so backwards and so terribly wrong about that! Because when we speak those negative words on ourselves we subconsciously believe them. This negative self talk breeds jealousy.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made. I see this verse everywhere lately. But people miss the bigger point to this verse. They miss the first five words, “I will praise you because, I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalms 139:14 
When was the last time you looked in the mirror and praised him for the way that he made you? Woah. That’s some deep stuff right? It’s a challenging verse for sure because we tend to look at our bodies as our own and spend so much time hating them and comparing them to everyone else’s. What if we stopped that? What if we learned to love ourselves for how He made us so that we can see others as beautiful too? What if we realized that they aren’t a threat to us and stopped harboring jealousy in our hears?
So here’s my challenge, here is how you practice the art of appreciation. The next time you see a beautiful girl, stop her and tell her that she’s beautiful. I promise, you’ll feel more beautiful in that moment. (Even in your yoga pants that have never made it to yoga)
Stay beautiful,
💜Amber
Her Mom told her “chunky girls don’t wear things like that and you’re gonna be chunky your whole life, so get used to it.” This little girl was no older than 10. I don’t pretend to know the whole story. But I do know that like that words stick. So I whispered to her, “You are more precious than rubies baby girl” and strolled right by. I hope those are the words that stick. 
Little did I know that this was going to be the thing to make me feel whole, that it would allow me the freedom to pick up my job and put it back down whenever I needed. No mom guilt. 
(Don’t knock it until you try it, works way better than those icky nasal aspirators, easier to clean, and it doesn’t grow mold)
