I struggled with self-esteem when I was a tween. I was a painfully shy, a little skinny and a late bloomer. Guys didn’t notice me. They noticed and dated the pretty girls, but then something happened. Time. It changed everything about me–my confidence, outward appearance and inner peace.
Outward beauty. Does it matter to your daughter? As women, young and old, we are bombarded by images around the world to be beautiful. It must be important to us because we spend $426 billion a year on beauty products. That’s a lot of money.
The reality is our society idealizes attractive supermodels, athletes, pop stars and celebrities. Teens often focus on their physical appearance and forget to weigh their inner strengths because of what the media feeds them. They strive to look like their role models. They don’t realize that most of the images have been altered and many of the celebrities have very good plastic surgeons.
READ MORE: TEENS AND E-CIGARETTES
So how do we as parents and grandparents help our teen daughters focus on the inward qualities of a person?
1) Encourage patience.
Let your daughter know that true beauty evolves over time and will continue throughout her life. Outward appearances will change and fade, but inner beauty will last a lifetime.
2) Focus on inner passions.
If you know your daughter’s passions, there you will find her inner beauty and help her concentrate on what she loves. Is she a musician? Does she love animals? Does she love children? What does she want to do or achieve in life? Take time to find out what she loves and what her life passion is.
3) Be her cheerleader.
Be the person who encourages her to pursue this passion even further. This is where her true inner beauty will shine. This is where she will find the truth about beauty the media skews through its manipulation of imagery.
4) Practice true beauty.
True beauty includes not only a healthy lifestyle, eating right and exercising but also sharing our unique qualities, characteristics, gifts and talents with others in the pursuit of making a difference in the world.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14, NIV)
