I Don’t Want To Be Pretty

I don’t want to be pretty.

I don’t want to be pretty in the way society has shaped pretty to be.

I don’t want to draw in my eyebrows, I don’t want to have winged eyeliner, I don’t want to have my hair done all perfect or have perfect skin or wear the best perfume or the most expensive clothes or any of that.

How many minutes a day do we spend on our outward appearance? How we look? How presentable we’ll look to others? The outfit we have on? The makeup we’re wearing? What others will think of our outside appearance?

How many minutes in a day do we spend worrying about how we look to others?

Friends, what if we spent as much time on our inside appearance as we do on our outside appearance? How much would we improve as individuals? How much more genuine would we be?

What if we replaced half of the time that we spend on our hair or picking out an outfit or our makeup, with prayer? Talking to God. What if we spent that time on calling someone or sending them a text of encouragement? What if we spent that time telling someone we love them, or genuinely listening to them?

I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of pretty I want to be.

I don’t want to be pretty.

Rather, I want to be pretty smart, pretty loved, pretty funny, pretty healthy, pretty strong, pretty brave, pretty bold, pretty generous, pretty kind, pretty genuine, pretty loving, pretty adventurous, pretty fun, pretty fearless, pretty charitable, pretty selfless.

THAT is the pretty that can’t be bought at the store. And THAT is the pretty I want to be.