Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you are worth the trip.

We all have messes in our lives. Big ones, small ones, serious ones, and funny ones. They are an unavoidable part of living... and also the part that really make things interesting.

When we’re faced with unmet expectations or when something generally goes wrong in our lives, how do we react?

After winning Miss Teen USA at age 18, I started speaking all over the country, encouraging others to push through the crippling fears that made their dreams seem impossible. Little did I know that, twenty years later, my own crippling fears would bury my voice as a woman.

When I look back on those struggles, I can now see all the ways those struggles made me—and are still making me—into the woman God created me to be.

Life is messy. Messes live and breed inside and outside of us every day. It is what we choose to do with those messes that matter.

We have to own our mess. Messes we have created by things like unforgiveness, expectations of ourselves and others, striving for perfection, lack of boundaries, caving to fear, rejection, self-esteem…the list goes on. If we want to walk in a healthy space, we have to learn to own our story.

Even though I may be completely freaked out by it, I’ve fallen head over heels in love with the process of writing my very first, very personal book. My prayer is that my story will be a welcome companion to those who need permission to be messy. For anyone who needs to hear that it’s okay to be imperfect, flawed and broken in a world filled with highlight reels and unrealistic expectations.

As unlikely as it may seem, the day may come when you choose to love your messes and even call them…beautiful.

So grateful for This Beautiful Mess of a life.

Shelly