The Greatest Accessory

Hey. Me (Jazmin) again. Sorry to disappoint you.

So, seeing as I failed to remember Fashion Monday, I took a picture of (almost) all of my outfits throughout the week.

Now, I'm not much of a fashionista and there has been more than one occasion that included me walking out of the house without looking in a mirror, or looking in the mirror, realizing I'm dressed like a crazy cat lady, and just not fixing it.  I mean, at this very moment I'm wearing Star Wars pajama pants, a very unflattering shirt, and I'm rockin' some tangled hair.  However, I do have a few things to say on the greatest accessory there is: confidence. (Corny, but true.)

Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect. I've dealt with the highs and the lows self-esteem has to offer. I was always the taller one in elementary school, the chubby one with braces and glasses in middle school, and even now, in high school, I've got curve, but the difference between those periods of my life is what I did about my feelings on those things that made me different from the rest. In elementary school and middle school, I viewed them as shameful attributes that I needed to hide and cry about. While I still have those days, I don't let those days dwell for any longer than just days -- I don't allow weeks, months, or years. There was a point where I took a step outside (kind of rare, I know), looked up at the beautiful sky above me, and the most simple, most powerful thought overcame my mind: "Look at those magnificent lights. Remember that sunset that came before? You know, the same person that painted that beautiful picture, painted you." 

Once I realized that, a wave of guilt showered my entire being. All of those years of feeling shame for my face, my body, my voice, my hair...those were years of insult to the person who granted me a life, my Heavenly Father. He engineered me this body because He knew it would be the one exactly for me; the one that would make me strongest. He took time to place every hair, every tooth, every finger and toe. I remembered those moments, after I had spent countless amounts of time painting a picture in art class in elementary school, only to have my masterpiece be mocked by my peers, and those times I turned in a writing to a teacher or showed to a friend in confidence, just to ultimately be insulted.  Suddenly, I realized how hurt my Heavenly Father must feel when I frown as I look in the mirror and when I cry because the boy I like likes someone who is "prettier" than me.  How dare I!  How selfish of me.  How awful of me.


My wonderful friend made the point once that the scriptures tell us that we FOUGHT FOR THESE BODIES.  We wanted them so badly, and yet here on earth, we look at them as something not good enough.  It hurts me so much to hear girls and guys alike wishing they were someone else.  Even if you're not a religious person, think about the creation that is your body.  EVERY SINGLE FRACTION OF YOUR BEING IS A MIRACLE.  Miracle from both the scientific and the spiritual viewpoint.  However you believe you got here, however you understand how you're existing, I promise what you see as a deformity is honestly a perfection that only you possess.  Your face, hands, stomach, smile, toes, fingers, nails, and (most importantly) your heart were not accidents.  They are unique to you.  Uniqueness is not a factor to frown upon, but something that should be embraced.  Were we to live in a society of uniformity, there would be no room to grow. Even then we wouldn't be happy, we would still find some way to want to be different.  Even then we would not understand how lucky we are.  I'm not saying it's easy to take this view, but it is so much better than the alternative.  When I look at myself and others, I don't examine for fault, I examine for the beauty that they and I possess, whether it be a smile or a laugh, an eye color or a sincere heart.  This is not meant to be a public service announcement or a religious plug.  It is simply the view of the little girl they called "ogre" who now knows even ogres can possess the prettiest shades of green.


I marvel at the miracle of the human mind and body. Have you ever contemplated the wonders of yourself, the eyes with which you see, the ears with which you hear, the voice with which you speak? No camera ever built can compare with the human eye. No method of communication ever devised can compare with the voice and the ear. No pump ever built will run as long or as efficiently as the human heart. No computer or other creation of science can equal the human brain. What a remarkable thing you are. You can think by day and dream by night. You can speak and hear and smell. Look at your finger. The most skillful attempt to reproduce it mechanically has resulted in only a crude approximation. The next time you use your finger, watch it, look at it, and sense the wonder of it.  You are a child of God, His crowning creation. After He had formed the earth, separated the darkness from the light, divided the waters, created the plant and animal kingdoms—after all this He created man and then woman. -  President Gordon B. Hinckley