I Am Beautiful, No Matter What They Say  

Yes, I ripped the title of today's post right off of Christina Aguilera. What can I say? I think that song has an amazing message. Of course it does-- they used it on an episode of "Glee" last season (bonus! I inserted that clip in this post, see below!).

Sometimes, though, I forget that I am beautiful. Lately, I've been L-A-Z-Y about going to the gym and doing any type of physical activity. I've been tired, grumpy and have made excuse after excuse to get out of my regular workouts. When I do this, I tend to feel less than beautiful on the outside. But that's not the only place I can feel a little "ugly" now and then. When I'm PMSing (ladies, I know you understand what I mean here), I can be downright nasty to poor DH (men, I apologize on behalf of all of us ladies; we are not in control of our bodies at that time of the month). When my behavior gets that bad, I don't feel very beautiful on the inside either.

When I'm not feeling beautiful-- inside or out-- I tend to get down on myself even more. I give myself sidelong glances in the mirror, wondering where that pudge came from. I open the kitchen cabinets looking for a treat, only to berate myself for overindulging. I turn my alarm off and skip the gym, then get frustrated with my lack of activity later in the day. It's a downward spiral.

That's how I've been feeling the past few days. I didn't know how to get myself out of that funk (Oooooh! That reminds me-- there was also an episode of "Glee" last season titled "Funk"-- one of my favorites... OK, ok, no more "Glee," at least until the season premier later this month!).

And then, I sat down to breakfast this morning...

And then, out of nowhere my beautiful daughter said three words I'd never heard her say before-- not about me, not about anyone. In fact, I'm not sure where she came up with them. She said:

"Mommy, you're pretty."
The fog I'd been living in melted. The malaise left. A rainbow began shining through the clouds of my emotions. My daughter thinks I'm pretty. She sees the beauty in me, on the inside and on the outside. ME, pretty. Her words totally rocked my world.

So, just in case somebody hasn't said it to you lately, I think you're beautiful. If you're reading my blog, you're probably a woman, and most likely a mother. That ALONE makes you beautiful, not just to me, but to your family as well.