This video is good. I don’t agree with some of the emphases, but the overall message is golden. I remember being INCENSED as a kid when it seemed like 95% of the compliments I got were about physical appearance. I recognize that many of those people were well-meaning, but it was very unbalanced. For me, I was a straight A student and had a plethora of other things I worked hard to accomplish, learn, and understand. THOSE were the things I was most passionate about. THOSE were the things that truly made me ME. Those were the things I invested copious hours into. It wasn’t the prettiness of my dress or the beauty of my little girl curly hair, it was my inner roar – my vision, my desire to change the world and my willingness to do it, my imagination, my creativity, and so forth.

I’ve since calmed down to where I can appreciate a compliment about physical beauty (toward me or toward someone else) – and I do think there is worth in that, not based on society’s standards of physical beauty granted, but based on being able to see the true glory and physical beauty in every single person. It’s great to recognize beauty in architecture and it’s great to recognize beauty in people too. However, it’s infinitely valuable to look beyond the surface and cherish, encourage, and celebrate people for who they truly are.

Let’s re-think the way we talk to girls in particular, shall we?