Don't Let Others Define You - Allison Redmond

Don’t Let Others Define You

By Allison Redmond

 

The media and the entertainment industry bombard females with messages that tell them they are not good enough. If girls don’t fit into or buy into the latest fad, they are left feeling inadequate. This leads girls to take extreme measures to feel accepted by others. Some girls even resort to anorexia and/or bulimia. They basically try to change everything about themselves in order to be “cool”. This is absolutely ridiculous. No one should feel that they are not good enough. It is for this reason that I came up with these four rules to live by:

 

1. Don’t Listen to the Media (e.g. movies, ads, magazines, news shows, etc.)
   • The media constantly tries to tell us how to live. You can’t listen to what they say. It does not matter what you weigh, what you look like, or what you wear. You do not have to be the next best singer, actor, athlete, or genius. Just be yourself.
2. Don’t Change for Others
   • No matter how hard you work to fit in, someone will always have another standard that you cannot meet. So what is the point in changing? Find a good group of people that will accept you for who you are, and stick with them.
3. Don’t Doubt Yourself
   • As an extremely important woman in my life always says, “God made you on purpose, for a purpose.” Even if you don’t know what His purpose for you is yet, you have one. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Also, remember that the view others have of you does not matter as much as God’s view of you.
4. Don’t Become the Problem
   • Now that I’ve said all this stuff about believing in yourself and not listening to what others say, you can’t be one of the “others”. DO NOT be part of the problem. Encourage people and make sure they know that they are enough, no matter what society says.

 

 

“I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139: 14