Dear Daughter,
I wish you could see myself through my eyes. You first came into this world, batting your long eyelashes and mesmerising everyone around you with your big, beautiful, brown eyes. I looked at you as I held you for the first time, and realised that I was looking at the most perfect, beautiful and amazing being that God ever blew breath into.
Image source: iStock
I wish you could see yourself through my eyes and know that in your eyes, I see my entire future. I wish I could make you understand that as soon as you came into my life, the vastness of my universe was reduced to how wide your arms can stretch. You became the very core of my existence and the embodiment of every dream and fancy that my mind has ever became acquainted with. You are the best part of me.
Today my voice is the most important sound that you hear and it instantly soothes you, calms you and reassures you. But alas, I know that the day will come when my voice will fade into the periphery and the world around you will be so strong that it drowns my voice. And when that day comes, more than ever, I will wish with every bit of me, that you can see yourself through my eyes.
Some day you will look into the mirror and compare yourself with what the world conditions you to view as perfect. You may not like the way you look, the colour of your hair or skin or the size of your waist. You might second guess if your are legs are long and slender enough, if your breasts are full and perky enough or if you are as attractive as the airbrushed, photoshopped models that pervade your Instagram account. I wish you can see yourself through my eyes as perfect and beautiful just the way you are and not fall prey to societal pressure.
Don’t be fooled by what you see on the internet. You are perfect and beautiful the way you are. | Image source: iStock
The day will come when you will venture away from the safe haven of my arms. You will find love, and as much as I wish it will never happen to you, you will also get your heartbroken at some point. I wish that you will make wise choices and never allow your perception of yourself to be obscured by some boy who is out to break your heart. I wish you will see yourself through my eyes – as nothing short of perfection.
And I wish that along with seeing how perfect you are to me, you will respect yourself enough to walk away from anyone or anything that gives you the treatment that is short of perfection.
The day will come when you will become a mother and you will hold your own child. There will be days that you don’t have a clue if what you’re doing is right and you might second guess your ability as a mother. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes – as capable and promising. And I wish that you would know that when I first saw you, I knew that you would make an amazing mum when the day comes. I just knew.
You will look at yourself in the mirror and feel uncomfortable with your post-baby body. You will wonder why everything looks and feels different and you will never have the same confidence you once had. I wish you will see yourself through my eyes and know that in becoming a mother, you just became more beautiful than you already were. I hope that my reassuring voice will resound through your head, reminding you baby girl, that you’ve entered a new phase of life, and you are now even more perfect.
I hope that in becoming a mother, you will see nothing but love and beauty. | Image source: iStock
So my dear daughter, while I wish that I could hold your hand and walk you through every phase of life, give you wings to soar over the obstacles that come in your way, give you the might to move mountains and the will to never once feel any less than perfect, I know that I won’t always be there. For the times that I won’t be next to you, I hope that I leave you with the most important gift – the gift of seeing yourself through my eyes.
When the going gets tough, when you feel weak and vulnerable, when you feel less attractive, when you feel that you’ve failed when you feel that you messed up, when you feel small and overwhelmed by the world, just remember to look at yourself through my eyes and see the most perfect, beautiful and amazing being that God ever blew breath into.