Confessions of a woman
Body positive. Love yourself. Embrace your curves. I say those things all the time but today I want to get into each of your heads...so listen up ladies and gents!
During a recent date with a good friend we began to discuss all the things that we might be too embarrassed to admit. Things like when we lay on our side in bed we touch what we perceive to be our most unattractive feature, our side belly. You know what I'm talking about here so don't pretend...the belly that you have when you lay on your side that you likely don't like your partner to touch. Or how when I get out of bed in the morning I look at my body and think "oh I look great" but then when night time comes around I look at myself in the same mirror and do the sucked in tummy (which I think is how my morning tummy looks), the pushed out tummy (the tummy I think everyone thinks I have), and the deep breath normal tummy (which I think is actually normal but who knows what normal really is). I usually think ugh my morning belly is MUCH better, but then I take a good look at myself, shrug my shoulders, and say something motivational like "you're beautiful" or "just remember to always take pictures in your bathing suit in the morning, not at 9 pm". Or how many times do we women adjust our shirts, pull our pants up when we're sitting down, or sit in the most flattering poses instead of just relaxing and being comfortable? I can honestly say I think I do this a lot. I am currently typing this cross legged on a couch and I have felt my little rolly polly belly twice now because I want to know what those rolls "look" like. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK is that about?!?!
Now I am the first to tell you to love your body and damn straights you should! And I do love my body too! That doesn't mean that I don't analyze it a little too much or think about my body position from time to time. What I am saying is it is OK to have the side belly, the rolls when you sit down or bend over, and its ok to have parts of your body you dislike. We are all in the same boat ladies! All we have to do is start telling one another how great they look, or throwing out a smile to the lady killing herself in the gym, or maybe tell a stranger you like her jeans, and for God's sake raise your friends up instead of pulling them down!
Positive body image begins with what we show the world and how we treat ourselves when no one is watching. You have to know that you are so much more than the woman in the mirror. You are a complete person even if you don't have chiseled arms. You are beautiful without a six-pack. You are the most beautiful thing in the world, you are you. So I hope you can see that we are all going through this world together and we can change how we make others around us feel by just loving ourselves and helping others to love themselves too.
