A father's advice to his daughter about words in magazines and make-up aisles

I came across this terrific letter Dr Kelly Flanagan wrote to his daughter in a blog post titled “Words from a father to his daughter (from the makeup aisle)” which I want our daughter to hear when she is old enough to affected by them.

Two paragraphs really stood out for me:

When you have a daughter you start to realize she’s just as strong as everyone else in the house—a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same life and gifts and passions as any man. But sitting in this store aisle, you also begin to realize most people won’t see her that way. They’ll see her as a pretty face and a body to enjoy. And they’ll tell her she has to look a certain way to have any worth or influence.
… and this next one which, aside from the bit about fingernails, is advice we could all benefit from:

Brilliant strength. May your strength be not in your fingernails but in your heart. May you discern in your center who you are, and then may you fearfully but tenaciously live it out in the world.
Thanks to Daniella for sharing this on Facebook.