A Penny's Worth

I think I'm approaching menopause. I can't say for certain, but there are little signs occasionally that make me think "maybe".... So what that means for this post is that I've done a lot of thinking lately. My emotions are more up and down than any roller coaster and trying to sort it all out is quite the chore. Sometimes sharing a penny's worth provides a moment of breathing room, so here goes:

My Morgan loves Selena Gomez. He says he would be glad to marry her. I have to admit that she's a cute little girl and her singing voice is quite appealing. The things that makes her "ok" in my book is that she dresses modestly, she only sings music with positive messages in the lyrics and her Hollywood personality is that of a decent kid enjoying her life but not trashing it. That makes her a far better role model or example to kids than Miley Cyrus or some others.

Still, Selena Gomez is a young girl and her music is pointed mostly at young people. It's pop music and I just don't listen to as much of that as I did when I was a kid. What I'm saying here is that she's cute and sings well but she's not in my normal genre. When the kids are watching tv and she's on the show, I don't jump to turn it off because I have learned to trust her musical quality and message. Yesterday, she was on a tv show called So Random. I don't really enjoy that show, but the kids do and I just let it go. They had a special guest star there to perform: Selena Gomez. I walked through the room, hearing it but not particularly LISTENING to it....when all the sudden the lyrics hit me hard in the head...

Who says, who says you're not perfect
Who says you're not worth it
Who says you're the only one that's hurting
Trust me that's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty
Who says you're not beautiful, who says?
Who says you're not star potential
Who says you're not presidential
Who says you can't be in movies
Listen to me, listen to me
Who says you don't pass the test
Who says you can't be the best
Who said, who said?
Would you tell me who said that, yeah
Who said
Who says, who says you're not perfect
Who says you're not worth it
Who says you're the only one that's hurting
Trust me that's the price of beauty
Who says you're not pretty
Who says you're not beautiful, who says?

Those lyrics stopped me right in my tracks and it was like someone was saying them TO ME specifically. I felt kind of stunned by them for several hours. This morning I woke up still thinking about those words. As I drove in to work, I glanced over at the grass growing along the side of the road. Whoever heard of imperfect grass blades? Nobody says grass is imperfect. If you pick 2 blades of grass, they are grass....perfectly grasslike, just as green as it should be, as slender or wide as it should be, as tender as it should be,....who says "oh this grass blade isn't pretty, it isn't perfect,".... that just sounds ridiculous doesn't it?

Why do I think of myself as any different than those blades of grass? Who says I'm not pretty? Nobody has ever come up to my face and said to me "Marianna, you are not pretty." Maybe they are idiots and THOUGHT those words, but nobody has been bold enough to say that to me. So as far as I know, nobody says I'm not pretty. Who is going to tell me I'm not perfect? I'm a human, which means I'm designed with weaknesses and charged with the task of overcoming those I can and successfully being Marianna in spite of those I can't. Who is going to tell me I am not doing just exactly that? And have you seen how dramatic I can be? Tell me that's not star potential! Who says I'm not good enough to be me? I'm the perfect person to be me. You can't possibly be better at being me than I am,.... so where did I come up with the notion that I'm not good enough?

While pondering that, I opened up my blog. At the top of the screen is a button that says "Next Blog" and for some reason, I clicked it. Someone's blog came up on the screen called "Life is Good at Gracy Farms", but what caught my attention was the very brief blog post she had at the top of her blog. Let me paste it here...

"My visiting teaching companion shared a beautiful message yesterday. As part of her message, she shared the below quote. I really loved it and wanted to share it with you.

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. -Margaret D. Nadauld

Reading things like this helps me remember what I know is true. A rededication to be the kind of woman I hope to become someday. " http://atthefarms.blogspot.com/2011/07/women-of-god.html

Wow.... kind of tied together the song, my thoughts, and a reminder from a little higher source. I may not be famous, or rich, or a beauty queen....I may not be you, I may not be someone else,...but I am ME, and I DO strive towards things that will make me a woman of God. I'm not so bad, in fact,....I'm pretty worthwhile!

And you are too!