Broken and beautiful

It was a pleasure to return to the beach this morning, after nearly a week away from it. And such a beautiful morning too.

I had brought my camera and was strolling along at a fraction of the pace that I normally walk, just enjoying the warm sun on my body, when a gleaming object caught my eye.

I convinced myself that it must be the lid of a fresh-mint tin, such were the beautiful greens emanating from it. 

As I got closer, and still believing it was metal, I made out the shape of a shell and not just any shell, but my favourite pink one. I had never seen one radiate colours like this before. As I picked it up, still gleaming like a thousand diamonds, I realised that the outer layer of pink had crumbled away, exposing a beautiful iridescent underlayer, something generally not visible. The shell's top was also broken, but as I clutched it in my hand, I felt that this shell was truly one of the most beautiful ones I had ever seen.

Immediately, I was given the analogy of those who suffer from low self-esteem, something that I had lived with for most of my life.

Whatever beauty is down there, we feel is invisible and thus try extra hard to present a positive exterior. What we don't realise is that that beauty is plain for all to see. We are the only ones who are blind to it.

I guess this understanding was spurred on by some of the people who crossed my path during the weekend. One woman's reading told how highly regarded she was by everyone around her. She was the only one who could not feel her goodness.

Those of us who have suffered low self-esteem are a bit like that shell, we have been broken somewhere along life's journey. Being constantly criticized or put down, told we are not good enough or not deserving, or just not being loved can have detrimental consequences for years to come. 

But in the same token, if we can heal from those wounds and learn to love ourselves, we can be even more beautiful than if we'd never had that difficult journey in the first place. We can be just like that shell, previously broken, but beautiful now.

PS The blue shell in the photo is the one I have written about. To the right is a pink one, how they normally look.