Beauty Is Found Within

I’m focusing a little on the “& More” part of Cribbs Style today. It was something that came to me, and I felt a great need to put it out there. Looking through a magazine yesterday, I stumbled upon an article which said we need to throw clothes sizing out the window. One company’s definition of what a size 2 is, may not be the same for another company. So who’s right and does it matter? With my own weight loss journey, I stopped focusing on the weight and sizes, but more on how I looked and how I felt. It was liberating because I was FINALLY comfortable in my own skin. Then I started thinking back to a couple weeks ago when my daughter Kelsey cut her hair, and I felt really bad.

Kelsey SUPER excited to chop her hair off!

About a month ago Kelsey came to me and begged me to let her cut her hair into a pixie hairstyle. I adamantly said no, because she had finally grown her hair out after she donated it in Kindergarten; and I loved it. Kelsey loved to style her hair in all different ways and I adored her creativity. She insisted we look on Pinterest for ideas and I pinned the ones she liked, but again the answer was “no”.  In true Kelsey style, she kept on me and eventually I made the appointment. The stylist could physically see me shutter when she took the first cut, but I kept silent because I saw the elated look on Kelsey’s face.

Fast forward to yesterday and those bad feelings. I was holding Kelsey back from something she wanted to feel good about herself. I was imposing on her what I thought was pretty, while all she wanted to do was cut her hair. And it’s not just Kelsey, my older daughter Kennedy is changing too. I’m dealing with changes in her body I wasn’t prepared for her to have at 9 years old. My little girls aren’t toddlers anymore when I could make the decision on what they wore, ate, and how they styled their hair etc.

No they’re not twins, yes I used to dress them like they were, because I could. (Go Bucks!)

Now they have opinions and know how they like to see themselves. I’m growing future women who will be submerged into a society where every day their beauty and talents will be challenged. Instead of imposing my definition, or anyone else’s for that matter, I need to help them be confident in their own skin and able to be strong enough to stand firm.  Because the world will be begging them to change and telling them they’re not good enough.

First day of school, be kind world, those are my (confident) babies!

As for me and anyone else still reading, we can do the same thing. We need to love ourselves a little more and stop trying to compare ourselves to others. My posts and tips are not meant to say that I’m better than you or I can do all the things. Instead they are meant to just say, “hey, have you ever thought of this” or “I figured out how to x,y, and z and wanted to pass on some tips.”  My hope is to empower others, not make people feel inadequate; life is hard enough.

Real words to live by!

So you know what happened after Kelsey cut her hair, everyone loved it, but most importantly SHE loved it. It’s actually perfect and fits her spunky personality quite well. The best part, she donated her hair AGAIN, how cool is that?? Bottom line, do what makes you happy, wear what makes you feel beautiful, be confident in the person you are/becoming. Fight for it if you have to, because I learned that part from my 8 year old.

That smile says it all! AND hopefully she’ll be able to put a smile on someone else’s face with her donation!

Confidently yours,

Brooke
xoxo