Best Way to Appreciate Yourself

Kathy Buckley has not had it easy. She was molested as a child. She was labeled retarded, until it was discovered that she had a hearing loss. She was an outcast in school. One day, she lay out on the beach and a lifeguard drove over her with a jeep, putting her in and out of a wheelchair for two years. Oh, and she’s had cancer, too.

But even after all that, Kathy, a comedian and motivational speaker, says she now realizes that there is no one she would rather be. She says:

The way you are made is the way you are supposed to be. If you see someone gorgeous walking around in her tight jeans with her belly button sticking out, it’s tempting to think, “I want to be her.” You need to stop thinking that way. That’s the way she is supposed to be, not the way you are supposed to be.

We always want what someone else has. “I want her hair.” “I want her body.” In my case, it was: “Everyone has boobs but me.” But when you appreciate what you have, that is what makes you beautiful. Beauty is what goes on in the inside that shines outward. The sparkle in eyes, your smile, your attitude. I’ve seen a lot of stereotypically beauti­ful women in show business, and you know what? They can’t tie their own shoes. (I think that is when they came out with Velcro!) There is nothing wrong with being beauti­ful on the outside, but there is everything wrong if you can’t find the beauty within you.

Each and every one of us was put on this earth to be an individual. The best gift you can give yourself and the uni­verse is to become you as you. Not you as Britney. Not you compared to anyone else. You as you. Each one of us came into this world with a unique package. I wish I had known when I was younger how beautiful I really was. I missed the opportunity to enjoy being myself. I was always trying to be someone else. Everyone on this earth has something to con­tribute. The only real disability is a bad attitude.