I remember a sign my dad used to have in his church office. It was a quote from a young man who lived in the projects and it said, “I am me, and that’s okay, cause God don’t make no junk.”
After many years of listening to women talk about their insecurities and watching women let go of more self-esteem every day, I think we need our own “no junk” checklist.
I’ve written mine below and am going to repeat it to myself every morning. I encourage you to write your own and share it with us!
- I am beautiful. I might not be Angelina Jolie, but I am still beautiful. If you don’t find me beautiful, you’re probably not one of my special people. So keep your opinion to yourself.
- I am smart. Despite my SAT scores from high school that might denote differently, I have the right intelligence for what I am meant to do in life. I might not understand why “blue is to water and gray is to goose,” but I can make people laugh and tell great stories.
- My body is strong. I have legs made for softball and arms made for weightlifting. If some of you find that too big, I would like to say that I will always opt for strength. Perhaps my strength is a little over-padded, but that’s OK. I can still hit a softball a mile.
- I am loud. Sometimes my laugh scares people in quiet restaurants, but it is because it comes from a deep place of joy. There is nothing better in the entire world than a good laugh with a dear friend. If I scare you, maybe it’s because you need to laugh a little more.
- You don’t complete me. Although I have family and friends whom I adore, and even though they do make me feel loved, they do not complete me. I came into the world with just me, and I’ll go out the same way. I’m a 10-billion piece puzzle that has no desire to have missing pieces. I’m all here.
- I am different. I wasn’t a mom that cooked. My kids will never remember the aroma of a good meal cooking downstairs. But they will remember watching movies and playing “Who am I?” and singing “Cecilia” by Simon & Garfunkel at the top of their lungs.
- Words will never hurt me. I’ve finally learned that hurtful words come from somebody else’s pain. They don’t belong to me. So I deflect them like Wonder Woman, and I hold up my magical wristbands and send the pain to the person from whom it came.
Please share your own checklist. If I get enough, we can create an e-book.
In the meantime, remember:
We are glorious.
We are funny.
We are beautiful.
We are Dames.