Red Lipstick and Accessories.

I think so often, especially us ladies or really just those stepping out into their careers, that we get so caught up in having to look the part or be the part, that we forget the actual part we are supposed to play out in life... OURSELVES!  

I know for me that if I walk out of the house without lipgloss, earrings, my emerald ring,  and a watch on my wrist, something feels missing. I am fully capable of doing my job and the tasks at hand a 100% with or without the lip gloss, but I just don't feel like ME. There have been literal moments when I knew one of my roommates would be driving past my work later in the day and I would consider texting them to bring me an "accessory" because I just felt naked without it. Regardless of the curls, cute sweaters, red lips, and makeup- I just didn't feel "put together."

Whatever happened to just being you? Don't get me wrong, I love getting dolled up and wearing the red lips and the heels for 5 minutes because that is all I can stand to wear of them until my ankle feels like it is breaking. But, at the end of the day, my comfiest- when I feel myself the most, is when I have on a pair of skinny's, a Tiger's baseball tee, my North Face, and a pair of Sperry's. Not when I am in heels and a dress giving an introduction on Banking 101. Do I feel pretty and respected and as though people care to hear what I have to say? Of course, but I think you should feel the exact same way about yourself and who you are without all the extras. Your self worth and dignity should not be held in MAC lipstick and a Louis Vuitton hand bag or whatever accessory that you choose to carry.

So what is it that makes us have this drive to keep adding on accessories to play the part? 

If you look up accessory in the dictionary, it is defined as: "clothing or garment that is worn or carried but not apart of the main." Or "a supplementary component that improves capability."

So all of this got the wheels in my brain turning for the simple fact of, why do we keep adding stuff onto our lives, feeding our flesh, pouring thoughts into our imagination that really is just hindering us and not making us who we really are? When you strip away the mascara, the Rolex, the gym shorts and protein shakes, and even the tattoos and corporate suit, who are you? Are you happy? Do you feel handsome or beautiful? Are you confident or are you just cocky? Do you really mean what you say or do you only say those words to make yourself sound better? Are you full of genuine love or are you simply just heartless? 

For myself over the past year as I have begun working my way up the corporate ladder, I have often times had to step back and evaluate why I dress the way I do or how I handle certain situations or why I choose the paths that I stroll down. Working in sales and customer service, I know personally that I don't ever want my intentions and motives to be questioned. I want to go to bed at the end of the day and sleep softly knowing I made the right decisions throughout the day. I didn't choose specific paths just to get ahead, but I worked my tail off to get there, without hurting people and without losing my integrity. 

I watch these shows where the women are in dress suits and these gorgeous heels with luxury hand bags, and so I go and try on these suits and can barely walk in the heels and I think to myself, why don't you just stick to what you're doing? Because at the end of the day, you're doing it pretty well and that handbag could pay off your car.. If we are being brutally honest. 

I have realized that the more accessories I add on, the more I seem to confuse or complicate things in my head- this image that the world has laid out for us. I'm not saying don't take care of yourself and avoid making yourself look good and presentable. But I am saying, stop pretending to be something you are not. Something that at the end of the day, you are only trying to be so you can fit in. Don't let the dress and the red lipstick and nice suits define who you are. 

The desires that are inside of you to aspire, create, and influence are not by chance; they are your calling. It may be to be a youth pastor, or a banker, or a CSI. Maybe a nurse, or a nanny, or an IT consultant, or even an insurance agent. Whatever it is, your hopes and dreams- BE that person, BECOME that person to the best that you know how to be. Because at the end of the day, if you're not being who you really are, you're simply being an accessory. 

An accessory meaning, that as fads change and fashion does whatever fashion does- it will become replaceable and left to sit upon the shelf as a memory of what once was.  You, my darling, are not replaceable. You are the only you that there is. So be it. It is your calling. It's what you were given breath in your lungs to do until the very last exhale.