There's Nothing Prettier...

(I meant to create this post on the first of May but that obviously didn't happen. Better late than never, right?)

So my blog is called "Virginia in May" and now that it's May I thought it would be a good time to explain where that title comes from.

My name is Virginia May. I was named that because my dad is from Virginia and he often tells me "There's nothing prettier than Virginia in May." This is around the time when most people feel the need to say "Awwww" or make some other equivalent noise... and it is pretty precious.

This quaint little story always makes me think of a topic I'm actually very passionate about: the importance of your own self image.

Let me paint you a picture of my home growing up:

My dad comes home to work and the first words out of his mouth upon seeing my mom are "Hi Beautiful." When we sit down for dinner he gives her no less than 5 compliments through the course of the meal. They're usually horribly sappy and obnoxious but they can be endearing.

I cannot think of a single time in my youth where I heard my mom talk negatively about her body or about any of her daughter's bodies and as a result it never occurred to me to talk negatively about my own.

I remember the first time I discovered not everyone had the same positive self image as I do. I was in gym class in 7th grade. Class was over and everyone was in the locker room getting ready to leave. There was a girl standing in front of a mirror going on about how fat she was and how terrible she looked (anyone with eyes could see that everything she was saying was not true). I listened to her for a while and it made me feel absolutely sick. I went through the whole day thinking about this encounter and as I walked home from school I resolved to never be that girl who stands in front of the mirror and points out all her flaws. Since then I have started everyday by looking in the mirror and saying "You look so good today!" and then I smile and wink and go on with my day.

I'm sure that makes me sound vain and egotistical...which is probably true but nevertheless starting my day this way has made so much of a difference in my life. I am 25 now and I have never compared my looks to someone else, it doesn't even occur to me to do so. I do not wish I was skinnier or taller or bigger or smaller. I am happy with who I am and what I look like.

We all receive enough criticism from the world but if we do not reaffirm those criticisms within ourselves they will not become true. The world may say that you must look a certain way but the world is wrong. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who knows how substantial our own self worth is. If we would only lean on that knowledge there is nothing anyone could say or do that would make us doubt how great we truly are.

I don't think my parents were aware of the impact the story behind my name was going to have on my life when they gave it to me. I would say that it has had an incredible impact in my self image. In fact, most of the time I think I'm pretty great and no matter what I look like I always think I look amazing. I sincerely hope anyone who has struggled with their self image before will honestly consider what I'm saying in this post. Whoever is reading this: you are a beautiful person. I can say that to you all I want but it will make no difference at all unless you begin to believe it yourself.

After all, there's nothing prettier than you.