“Oh God ~ Help me to believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is.”
Macrina Wiederkehr
“I am beautiful and everybody loves me.”
Louise Hay
Wait!! WAIT!!
Oh! I mean “PAUSE”!!!
Now before you go running off because these quotes seem naive, unrealistic, illogical and ridiculously unworthy of contemplation, let your curiosity “win” and please hear me out…
Because I was so profoundly moved, I have just copied and pasted a message below that landed in my inbox this morning. The author, Robert Holden, is a prolific writer, active speaker and a life coach. His thoughts have always rung with truth whenever I read or hear them and I felt strongly motivated to share them with you today.
My deepest hope is that you will Pause here for yourself and read Holden’s letter. But do NOT leave out the video!! I would strongly recommend, though, that you save the watching as a “treat” for after the reading. (Don’t worry: it’s just a few minutes long!)
And men: although the video focuses on women…
The perceptions and feelings presented in it are blatantly HUMAN, so it will definitely not be a problem to find some component of yourself somewhere within what is being expressed by these beautiful souls.
As Holden says in his message:
“Inside of you is a secret beauty that reveals itself only when you stop judging yourself.”
And THAT statement…is for EVERYONE.
Please Pause.
Take a moment to see Who You Truly Are…
To see Who We ALL Are…
When the “labels” are finally removed.
Thank you, Robert Holden for sharing your timely words here below. How DID you know we each needed to hear that we are “Beautiful”?!?!
“Choosing the Beautiful Door
By Robert Holden
Imagine you are standing before two doors. One door has a “BEAUTIFUL” sign over it; the other has an “AVERAGE” sign. Which door would you walk through – the beautiful door, or the other one?
For four years, I coached two Presidents of Dove & the Real Beauty Campaign. In that time, Dove launched a campaign of short films on beauty. One film, called Choose Beautiful, offers women the choice of walking through the beautiful door or average door. This film has hit 10 million views on YouTube. I often play Choose Beautiful in my keynote speeches around the world – like last week at the IDEA 2018 Conference in San Diego, where I gave the opening keynote to 2,800 leaders in the fitness industry.
Feeling Beautiful?
We have more beauty products than ever before, and yet we are feeling less and less beautiful. Here’s the latest research from Dove: “Get ready for some disheartening stats: 61% in the US, 86% in China, 56% in India (where almost all of the women we spoke to agreed that every woman has something beautiful about her, but that often they don’t see it in themselves), a huge 96% in the UK, and 72% in Brazil.”
Your Secret Beauty
Inside of you is a secret beauty that reveals itself only when you stop judging yourself. When you judge yourself you don’t see your beauty; you see your judgments! Thomas Merton, the American mystic and social activist, encouraged us to look at ourselves in the mirror without judgment and see our secret beauty. Try this: spend five minutes sitting quietly, eyes closed, contemplating what is it like to be me when I am not judging myself.
The Beautiful Prayer
My favourite-ever prayer is by the Benedictine nun, Macrina Wiederkehr. I’ve written about this prayer in two of my books Loveability and Happiness NOW! I prescribe it to almost everyone I coach and mentor. I firmly believe that if for 7 days you pray this prayer and sit in meditation for five minutes afterwards, you would start to feel more beautiful again.
A Beautiful Affirmation
When I wrote Life Loves You with Louise Hay, Louise told me this story: “One day, I decided to try a little exercise,” [Louise told me]. “I looked in the mirror and said to myself, ‘I am beautiful and everybody loves me.’ Of course, I didn’t believe it at first, but I was patient with myself, and it soon felt easier. Then, for the rest of the day, I said to myself wherever I went, ‘I am beautiful and everybody loves me.’ This put a smile on my face. It was amazing how people reacted to me. Everyone was so kind. That day I experienced a miracle—a miracle of self-love.” Why not try it for yourself!
I wish you a beautiful day.”
Power In Pause 
This was so right on. I see this every day among my friends, my family, people with whom I randomly come in contact, even men, choosing the average door. You reminded us all to do as Marianne Williamson says, “‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” Let us all remember to shine our lights and give others permission to shine theirs. Thank you for sharing.
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