I chose each and every one of those bites of tasty food. I chose to skip all those workouts.
Recently I heard about Stephanie Nielsen, a popular blogger who was in a plane crash with her husband. Both of them suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident, with Stephanie being burned over (I believe) 89% of her body.Stephanie's blog from the other day struck me to the core. She wrote about her sorrow at not being able to recognize herself in the mirror anymore. About her desire to be beautiful.
What happened to Stephanie was not her fault. She was dealt a bad hand and she's making the most of it. She's fighting her way back to health and a new kind of beauty--the kind that radiates from the inside out.
But what happened to me, is my fault. I chose my path, every step. If, when I look in the mirror, I don't like what I see, it is because I've fashioned the mask that I wear out of guilt, insecurity, loneliness, despair, laziness, anger . . . I've covered myself with feelings so I can no longer see the girl that lives inside of me.
The beautiful girl that wants to shine. Me.
Stephanie can't undo the damage that's been done to her body. She has no choice but to accept and live.
I, however, have every choice. I have the ability to completely undo all the bad choices I've made and make myself beautiful once more.
