You The saying goes: “That what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” I really believe that! Looking at my body, face or hair you cannot see what I have been through. It is my inner strength that pulled me through all these years and made me who I am today. When people tell me I am beautiful, I ask myself: “What do they see?” When they tell me that I have such a strong personality, I ask myself: “What do they mean?” Is that my beauty – my strength? What does ‘strong’ look like? I am curious to understand what they perceive. Maybe these photos will show?
Of course I am also vulnerable. There are days that I do not feel so strong. But if I let my vulnerability take the upper hand I feel lost, or I give up… I do not want to give up however – I want to persevere!
Life has not been easy. I was 19 when my son was born and my partner left me. My mother came and helped me out those first few weeks. This engendered very close ties between the three of us. Just a few years later it was my turn to help my mother when she was paralyzed due to complications of diabetes. I was only 23 when my mother died. I then remarried, but he also left me after a few years. I was alone for the second time in my life. I had to work 80 hrs a week to secure an income for my child and me.
After the divorce I made a career switch and promptly got severely ill. I underwent two operations and I am not out of the woods yet. But I am still here. That’s what I mean when I say that people see strength in me: I can do it by myself, I don’t need anybody.
I have been told that I look like my mother. She also had a strong personality. Is that the beauty that people see? I would hope that people see more than just the outside: Hair, body and clothes etc. is only part of one’s appearance. That is not who we are...Beauty is what’s on the inside. [Renate cries; pause…] I cry easily. The Dutch call me crybaby, “huilebalk”, [laughs] but it means I am in touch with who I am. And that is a good thing. I am not ashamed.
I read this quote in a magazine and brought it here to share:
While looking in the mirror, if we listen to the negative sounds we hear, we can almost be sure it is not the voice of our soul. It’s only the voice of the outside world which wants to impose on us an empty reality.
What is real? It is the strength that comes from inside. That is beauty.
Of course I am also vulnerable. There are days that I do not feel so strong. But if I let my vulnerability take the upper hand I feel lost, or I give up… I do not want to give up however – I want to persevere!
Life has not been easy. I was 19 when my son was born and my partner left me. My mother came and helped me out those first few weeks. This engendered very close ties between the three of us. Just a few years later it was my turn to help my mother when she was paralyzed due to complications of diabetes. I was only 23 when my mother died. I then remarried, but he also left me after a few years. I was alone for the second time in my life. I had to work 80 hrs a week to secure an income for my child and me.
After the divorce I made a career switch and promptly got severely ill. I underwent two operations and I am not out of the woods yet. But I am still here. That’s what I mean when I say that people see strength in me: I can do it by myself, I don’t need anybody.
I have been told that I look like my mother. She also had a strong personality. Is that the beauty that people see? I would hope that people see more than just the outside: Hair, body and clothes etc. is only part of one’s appearance. That is not who we are...Beauty is what’s on the inside. [Renate cries; pause…] I cry easily. The Dutch call me crybaby, “huilebalk”, [laughs] but it means I am in touch with who I am. And that is a good thing. I am not ashamed.
I read this quote in a magazine and brought it here to share:
While looking in the mirror, if we listen to the negative sounds we hear, we can almost be sure it is not the voice of our soul. It’s only the voice of the outside world which wants to impose on us an empty reality.
What is real? It is the strength that comes from inside. That is beauty.
