Becoming ourselves, day by day.

I just watched a short video about flowers developing their blooms. It was beautiful, and I thought about each one of us changing and developing, becoming a beautiful person, showing our own personal traits and beauties. Each flower is different from the others, some are large and full bloomed, some are small and delicate. I have tried to include the link to the video here. http://player.vimeo.com/video/27920977?title=0&%3bbyline=0&%3bportrait=0href= Each of us has some special personality trait that makes us different from all our siblings and friends. We often look at other's traits and wish we could be like them. Taller, shorter, thinner, fatter, full-bodied, slimmer, better hair, curlier hair, straighter hair, the list goes on and on. What we fail to see is the beauty within ourselves. It is best viewed by others, it is hard to see ourselves clearly, especially when we want to accomplish good things in our life. We also see reflections of "perfection" in the media around us. We should all be so tall, weigh so much, have so much energy, have lovely hair, and a lovely body (determined by a composite on the computer), be so smart, be so educated, earn so much money.....again that list never ends. However, we are sent here by a loving Heavenly Father. We each look like a composite of our ancestors. We inherit some of their strengths, and some of their weaknesses (physically). What we often fail to see and clearly understand is how absolutely beautiful we are! JUST as we are! We discount our good points and dwell on our weak points and end up not liking ourselves very much. But we don't have to do that. We can accept that we are not going to look like a movie star, we are simply going to be ourselves. Think of the people you really truly love, do you really care if they weigh just so much, or if their skin is free from blemishes, or if they are aging and showing wrinkles, etc. ? My Mother's mother was such a lovely person, how I love her and how I adored her. She worried about her thinning hair, I loved her for the person she was, and the wisdom she shared, and the love she had for me. Isn't that true for the people WE love? Then perhaps the true secret of beauty is to love others and accept them for who they are, and love them as they are.....and miracles happen.....because then we are loved and accepted too. Pretty neat, huh?