I am small mountain town Colorado all over. I prefer the laid back lifestyle. I love being active outside and relish in the easy-going appearance standards. Frankly the look of your skis, mountain bike, or kayak is more important than personal appearance. So, when I came face-to-face with a group of women from Beverly Hills, I was really thrown off. The standards of personal appearance are much higher for them and it shows. I am used to long camping trips where you never shower, not heaps of makeup and plastic surgery. It really is all in the self-imposed standards of beauty.
We become so concerned with our personal appearance. The standards are there and we follow them nearly blindly. We work so hard to have the right clothes and to look just right. These standards can be dangerous, however. When they become a greater priority than our own personal health and safety, then there needs to be a serious paradigm shift. We work so hard to impress each other and have just the right appearance -- we are competing really. All that work for an unspoken feeling of success at someone else's expense. The superficial barriers and standards need to be avoided. Build yourselves up and find your own self confidence.
Carefully discern which standards are important to you and then feel confident in measuring up just fine.
Hm. I'd be interested to know your recommended discerning process. :-) I've definitely been trying to remember that I used to think I didn't have a need to measure myself by my job, but that's been something that unemployment had definitely made me wrestle with!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am never completely sure of that process. I think that what I most commonly do is think to myself "Is this what I need?" or "Is this what I am about?". Taking that moment makes you think about what is really important and valuable to you.
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