#Write31Days - Oct 8 - Try

I have watched most seasons of Dancing With The Stars (at least the dances and the rest on fast forward) and my favorite episodes are always the ones about their most memorable years/most influential person.  Those episodes often strip off the person you think you see in celebrity and realize how much they are just like the rest of us, life's hardships and happenings affect them the same.

This week Bethany Mota's story really caught me. She was so candid about the mean girls she faced as a teen and how those girls inspired her YouTube channel, ultimately finding her voice again and becoming a major advocate in the anti-bullying campaign. Then her dance with Derek was perfection. If you didn't see it, check it out here:

The dance featured Colbie Caillat and her new song "Try".  The lyrics really struck me as well...

Put your make up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim
So they like you. Do they like you?

Get your sexy on
Don't be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong
So they like you. Do you like you?

Get your shopping on,
At the mall,
Max your credit cards
You don't have to choose,
Buy it all
So they like you. Do they like you?

Wait a second,
Why should you care, what they think of you
When you're all alone, by yourself
Do you like you? Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try

No
Oh

You don't have to try

Take your make up off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don't you like you?
Cause I like you

 

Men and women alike are constantly bombarded with the things of this world that define success, the perfect look and compare us against one another.  We, often unconsciously, buy into these lies.  We let ourselves believe that we don't have the right look, that we aren't the right size, that we need to change something to fit in, give ourselves away for others to like us. 

 

Then when we are alone we realize we don't even like who we've let ourselves become. 

 

You (I) don't have to try to keep up with those demands.  They are lies.  You (I) were created to be unique and individual. Not to look like everyone else.  Not to be the same size as everyone else.  Not to do the same thing as everyone else.  You are called to be you.  I am called to be me.  It is sometimes a daily battle of the mind and heart to believe that truth and shut down the lies. 

 

Psalm 139:14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

 

Let's love who we are!