I recently posted on my tumblr page a picture of a girl. She has a turban on her head, henna on her hands and her face is partially hidden. From what I could make out of this girl, she seemed exotic and beautiful. My caption was - "Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? Can I look like her, please?"

I should interject that I'm not terribly vain about my appearance. I've learned to enjoy how I look and like that my hair, face and body require little maintenance to stay looking good. However, I live in this body and look out through these eyes into the mirror every morning. I see best the flaws that other people overlook (or sometimes, the really obnoxious people look hard to find and bring to my attention.) They are there. For example, one side of my face is fuller than the other. I find that symmetry equates beauty and with one side of my nose being larger than the other, or my eyebrows being totally different shapes, or one eye being more upturned than the other, means that I am not perfect. And perfection is what we're all striving for. Right?

An old friend, that I often forget is also on tumblr, replied to my photo:

"Stop asking to look like other people. Your own Beauty is more than enough. Trust me."


Maybe the absence of his voice saying this, or not seeing his face makes it feel less like it came from my friend and more as if God were speaking to me.


Once God told me, "Don't look to anyone else. Don't compare yourself, don't try to emulate anyone. You are an original. I broke the mold when I made you, and I think you're perfect."


I love being reminded to get my eyes off myself. All of that doesn't matter. The real question should be, "What does my heart look like?"