Starting the New Year With Grit, Grace, and Inner Beauty

There’s something hopeful about a new year. Who doesn’t love a fresh start? A new year often incites determination to tackle big projects, resolution to make hard changes, and lofty dreams of what our renewed motivation and hard work might bring.

Maybe you plan to organize every room in the house over this next year, drop some of that holiday weight, or go after your dream job. Those are all great goals that you can achieve!

But have you considered focusing on the inner you—the part of you that has nothing to do with outward appearances?

Here are 4 truths about inner beauty you should know:

1. You are valuable.
Not because you are beautiful, funny, smart, kind, helpful, hard-working, supermom, the perfect wife, or top of your class (although you may be all of those things!). You are valuable simply because you are you. You’re unique, with your very own DNA, fingerprints, mind, soul, and heart—none of which anyone else has had or ever will have again. You are one of a kind.

2. You have a purpose.
There is a plan for your life, and because you are the one and only you, there are certain things that only you can do. You were placed on earth to fulfill that purpose.

3. You are full of grit.
Every woman is. You may not realize it, but you are stronger than you think. You’ve come through every hard time you’ve faced so far, and you’ve probably learned a thing or two about yourself, life, or other people. It may not have been an easy or pleasant lesson—but it’s made you a stronger woman.

4. Never overlook grace.
One small tip, don’t let the things that have made you strong make you become bitter. A bitter woman may be strong, but she probably isn’t sharing her strength with anyone else. Allow grace to season your strength with kindness—for yourself and for others. It’s not always easy, but it’s really quite beautiful to live in the balance of grit and grace.

Why not make this new year the year that you stop focusing on your flaws (we all have them!), start noticing your inner beauty, and do your best to live your life with grit and grace?

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Dar and Julie share their thoughts on what it means to be a strong woman: