Being beautiful is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with your physical self. Think of all those stories that we hear about people like Oprah Winfrey, who was told that she could never be on television because her face wasn’t pretty enough. Now she owns television with the biggest talk show ever and is a TV and film actress as well.
You never know what you are capable of until you decide what you want and then you just have to go for it. By just being onAmerican Idol, I have been blessed with so many other opportunities. Again, I think it was because I finally found my gift. If you have something that you want to do or become, find the people who have the same passion that you have. Go to the places they hang out and let them know you’re there. Show them you have a gift and that you can contribute to the group. Show them you believe in yourself and that you are eager to listen and learn. You can do anything that you put your mind to. Think about me and where I’ve come from. Remember, all the things I’ve been through and all the people who have doubted me and all the times I doubted myself. And one last thing I need you to remember: Always keep your head up.
MY MOMENT OF
FAITH:WHAT I LEARNED
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
PROVERBS3:5–6
Make yourself feel pretty:
Buy yourself lingerie and wear it when you’re alone. You can make yourself feel pretty.
Tell yourself that you are beautiful. And mean it. Even if you are not all the way there.
Keep a nice tight stomach.
Put effort into your appearance, if only to impress yourself.
Give God thanks ahead of time:
I never say I don’t deserve the things that have happened to me. It sometimes still wows me, but I knew that God had great things in store for me. I just thank Him for these things that blow my mind. I know that I have to stay in His will.
6.Give
Props Where Props
Are Due
God wantsall of His children to keep their heads up. That is why God gave all of His children talents and wants each of us to acknowledge each other and our God-given talents. God wants us to all give and get our props! I am a child of God, so in my spirit there should be no jealousy, competitiveness, or playa’ hatin’. You will hear people say that I have a “big heart.” You will also hear people say that I am “generous to a fault.” I believe that there is no such thing as that. How can there be fault in being generous? I do consider myself to be generous, but not to a fault. It is in my blood to want to help people and to love them.
This is not to say that I have always been like that. As you know, I’m not perfect. And back in the days when I was envying all the other girls who were prettier than me and had more money than me and more things than me, I did feeljealous of them. I ain’t gonna lie. But when I think back to those days and those feelings, I realize that feelin’ jealous or hatin’ on people for what they had didn’t bring me to where I am today. And those feelings were one of the things that kept me from improving my life.
My mother used to say, “What goes around, comes around.” When I was younger, I didn’t really understand the truth in that. Now I see that she meant you can either send out negative energy, like jealousy, gettin’ that in return, or you can send out praise and receive that back instead. The energy that I spent on wishing I could be someone else or having what they had was a total waste of my time and energy, which I could have spent growing as a person and improving myself. Instead of sitting in that classroom daydreaming about those other girls, I wish I had been propping them up and complimenting their hair or saying how pretty their faces were. It would have brought me much closer to what I thought I wanted without creating those feelings of tension and pity that was my whole school experience. I wish I had known then what I know now about how to be real with people and how to give props when props are due.
I guess I have learned about props from the church. Holiness makes you vocal. It lets you say what you feel. Sometimes, instead of saying “Hallelujah” when I heard a beautifully sung riff, I would turn to whomever was standing near me and ask: “Did you hear that?” At church I was exposed to a whole lot of singers. Most of those singers had big talent. They were not only singin’, they couldsaang ! Church singers typically listen to a lot of different styles of music, and every style influences them. Within gospel there are hymns, stomps, choral pieces, solos, contemporary, traditional, and now even hip-hop. Gospel music is truly special because the gospel artists find so many ways to express their love and appreciation for Jesus. Gospel singers have the gift to be able to put
