Princess...

To any princess,

     Valentine's Day has arrived again. Maybe you have a date or maybe you are stuck celebrating what has so unfortunately been named "Singles Awareness Day." Maybe there is someone who is planning out an incredible date for you, or maybe there's not. Maybe you're caught up in the romance and love, and maybe you're totally over the commercialism.
     But this is not really about Valentine's Day. This is simply an open letter to any woman, of any age, from a simple guy. Maybe it will mean something to you, and maybe it won't. But the point is the same. You are beautiful. You are lovable. You are strong and you are worth more than anyone could ever explain.
     They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. They are wrong. Because no matter what anybody may say when they see you, they cannot take your beauty away. No magazine, no commercial, no supermodel, no man, no woman. You see, in your eyes there is a light that can only shine from you, and there is a hope that only you can share. In your smile is a joy that no magazine can capture and in your heart there is a fire whose warmth is unparallelled. In who you are there is a preciousness unmatched in all the world, because in you is a life and a passion that is yours and yours alone and there is not another one like it.
    You are the only you, and in that, you are unique, beautiful in a way that only you can be. Your life is precious, because there isn't anyone like you. You are not a stereotype, not a group, not an interchangeable part. You cannot be replaced. You are valuable, special in your differences. You were made without blemish or flaw, knit together with the most careful of hands. There is no mistake in you. You're not too big, too skinny, too blonde, too brunette, too dumb, too smart, too shallow, too deep, too pale, too dark, too this or too that. The make-up you use to cover those spots may hide them from the world, but they also hide the beauty that lies in who you are.
   Who you are is a treasure worth all the gold and silver in the world. We want the you with the fifteen pounds you are desperately trying to lose, the you with the blemishes make-up desperately tries to cover, the you who carries the scars of past relationships, the you that you truly are, the you only you can be.
    But there's also no one that can convince you of any of this either. Not these words, nor the words of any loved one or friend. I could write these words 1000 times over, and they would never fully resonate. Not until YOU believe them. Not until you can see that the you that God made in God's own image, the you that was made without flaw or imperfection, is enough and is beautiful and is strong and is worthy of the greatest affections and love. My words, and the words of any acquaintance or loved one, will fall on a smiling face but deaf ears until you can accept the scariest truth of all: that you actually ARE beloved and that there is light in you that shines in the world around you, not because of what I or anybody else may say, but simply BECAUSE YOU ARE!
    If you have been hurt or find yourself trapped by the demons of broken relationships, I am truly sorry. Please do not allow the selfishness or sin of another to diminish the light inside of you. I wish I could say that I was perfect, or that there is a perfect someone out there. There's not. We will neglect your joy and your love. We will fall and fail you. We'll be selfish and inconsiderate. But that does not mean you do not deserve a love that is marked by patience, respect, kindness, and selflessness. If you find yourself with somebody who makes you feel like you aren't good enough, like you aren't the wonder that you are, like you don't have any light to offer the world, I want you to know that that is not love.
   Our actions are the fruit of the seeds in our heart. If someone tells you he or she loves you and cheats, lies, abuses your body, your soul or your emotions, they are lying. That is not love. And you must hear this: there is an infinitely more beautiful story being written for your life than the one in which you find yourself.
    They say mirrors tell us who we really are. Your mirror must be amazed every day that it shares your glance. It must be overwhelmed by the light and life it reflects. Let that light shine, the light that only you can share with the world, because it was created uniquely, just for you. It is a beautiful light. It brightens the lives of those around you. You see, you had it right when you were young imagining you were a princess in a castle. Nothing has changed in who that little girl was created to be. The god of the universe who put each star in the sky and counted the hairs on your head didn't make any mistakes in you. That God created a princess. And each day God is writing a love story with your name in it.

Love,
A Simple Guy