I feel like EVERYONE goes through that “awkward stage” in life. You know, those years of seeking and learning for yourself of who you are and what you would like to become. Those years of trials and heartache. For those of you that didn’t know me in Elementary School or Junior High, probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I once was an extremely shy girl – but guess what!? It is VERY true. I haven’t always had confidence and I haven’t always been extremely outgoing. I once was the quiet girl who didn’t make a peep in social settings.
I remember the day I got glasses like yesterday. I was eight years old and in the third grade.{I am pretty much BLIND by now. I have the worst eyes… EVER!} I was sitting in the waiting room, trying on glasses of all shapes, sizes and colors. I wasn’t too excited to get glasses because I thought all of the kids at school were going to make fun of me. My mom was so patient and probably spent hours with me, trying to find the perfect pair. I remember finally finding “the one”. They were blue and my mom told me they brought the pretty blue out in my eyes. I remember I looked at her and with a smile on her face she said, “Oh! You look so beautiful!” I quickly looked in the mirror at the girl staring back at me and thought, “I am BEAUTIFUL?!?!?”
Dale Carnegie said, “Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.”
Fast forward 20 years later – I am now a mom to a daughter of my own. If genetics continue on the way they have, I will one day be in my mom’s shoes, standing in a doctor’s office with my pretty girl and I will get to say, “Oh! You look so beautiful!” just as my mom said to me. I am not sure if my mom ever knew the impact she had on me that day. I was young and trying to fit in with my friends at the time. I have always had the most beautiful friends, so I didn’t think glasses would really help being “cool” like them. But because of my mom, I had confidence. I thought glasses were the best thing that ever happened to me. I thought I was beautiful.
We truly have no idea how our words can impact those around us. What we say to our children TODAY, can affect the way they feel the rest of their lives. I know when my mom told me I was beautiful, it may have just been a simple “mom sentence” for her to to say – but to me…. it was everything.
Thomas S. Monson said, “Love should be the very heart of family life, and yet sometimes it is not. There can be too much impatience, too much arguing, too many fights, too many tears. Lamented President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Why is it that the [ones] we love [most] become so frequently the targets of our harsh words? Why is it that [we] sometimes speak as if with daggers that cut to the quick?” The answers to these questions may be different for each of us, and yet the bottom line is that the reasons do not matter. If we would keep the commandment to love one another, we must treat each other with kindness and respect.”
I hope as women {wives, mothers, and friends} that we will seek for moments this week to show love to those around us. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. Love is not proud and is not rude or self-seeking. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. I hope we will all remember what love really is. May we each show true love to our children, spouses, friends and even strangers through the words that we speak.
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Danielle is the owner of Today's the Best Day. She strives to provide creative and uplifting content in order to enrich the parenting experience for women everywhere. Danielle hopes to help you and your family to make every day the best day! 
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