Monday 6 April 2015

What Makes You Beautiful

Last year I had an enlightening moment. I was going through the specifics of the vision I have for my business; an exercise I try to practice regularly to keep my focus on the right path for the Reveal Your True Beauty experience. I was thinking about the lack of tools and guidance I had when a teenager and wondered how much it would have helped back then and how much more impact it would have at young age instead of adult life. 

I thought about the strength of my personal story and how, despite how hard it seemed at the time, I was able to understand it, overcome it and learn from it. I thought about how I could reach out to teen girls and be there for them just as I would have liked to have a positive guidance about what to do with myself in a world that was telling me that being myself was wrong. 

2014 was a big year for empowering women campaigns around the world. I knew I wasn't alone on wanting to help young generations so I googled it, plain and simple. that's when I found Young Women Of Power or YWOP. 

Their goal is simple: 


"When girls leave our conference they will go away embracing who they are, motivated to support other girls and inspired to creatively use their talents to encourage and uplift those around them."
“I am a Beautiful, Wise, Powerful Woman of Principle”

Does it sound familiar? Of course it does, it's so connected to what we do with Reveal Your True Beauty, I was so excited! I emailed Alison, the founder, and shared my story with her. She emailed back eager to meet and so we did. Now, I'm very happy to say I will be speaking to girls between the ages of 12 and 18 about finding beauty by learning to love.

As I'm organizing my ideas for the workshop, I can't stop but thinking that is something that women of all ages need to learn and so, I'll share it through here. Not as I will say it at the workshop but as it's created. As words and ideas come to mind to form the final speech but also more detailed than the final sketch will be. As you know, these are ideas that come to mind from a personal level, from experience in walking the journey of self discovery and self love. I'm not a professional in this matter, just someone who shares her thoughts hoping I can share with you a bit of light to help you find your own path.


On April 17th/15, I'll be one of the speakers at the annual workshop organized by Young Women of Power

What makes you beautiful is the capacity of learning to accept yourself and to forgive yourself in order to not think of yourself, so that your personal growth is focused towards being a better person for others, by staying true to who you really are. At the end, is the light that shines within you towards others that make you beautiful.

What? Please let me elaborate on that:

What happens when you check off things from a to-do list? You don't have to think of it anymore, right? It's done and gone. Accepting and forgiving ourselves are the ink and pen that checks off worries from our list. So what happens then? Those things you don't like about yourself, those insecurities that don't let you be who you are, are done and gone, leaving you with more time and energy to invest in better things to do. When you accept and forgive yourself, you understand yourself which makes you love yourself. 

What happens when you love someone? You give them your all; you like making them happy, you are filled with joy when you can help them be their better selves and when they make a mistake, you don't judge them, you give them your gracious hand to help them get out of the mud and try again, because nobody is perfect.

Now let's write again the paragraph above but with a twist:

What happens when you love yourself? You give yourself your all; you like making yourself happy, you are filled with joy when you can help yourself be your better self and when you make a mistake, you don't judge yourself, you show yourself grace to get out of the mud and try again, because nobody is perfect.

Now, let's hold on to that thought and let's read below a more universally known paragraph (and wiser too):


Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7(NLT)

 Can you apply those words towards you?

When you get to this state of mind, it all comes effortlessly so you forget about yourself, because "yourself" is not a worry anymore. If you love yourself in that way, instinctively you'll do the same to others. That bright flame you've been working on inside you will grow into a beautiful lighthouse that guides others in their own paths. And all by being who you really are. Isn't it amazing?

So when you have the right focus towards yourself, it is not a selfish act but rather an act of selflessness because it'll be others who will taste the fruit of the work you do in yourself, because it is others who will see your bright light shine through and be inspired by your true being to also be their better selves.

All it takes is the first step towards the right direction. The first step might be the hardest but also so rewarding.

Be true to yourself to find your truth.


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