As a girl, lady, woman … whatever I am, I’ve struggled with a positive body image. There’s always something that I feel could be improved. Playing and loving tennis as a teenager, I grew quite large thighs for my small body. I didn’t mind them back then, but now that I am older, and a mom who wants to look “normal,” whatever that is, they bother me. Fortunately, I know there’s nothing I can do about them so I spend very little time obsessing over them. What I do obsess over, however, is my loose skin on my abdomen. There’s nothing less attractive to me than all of the loose skin (and a small compilation of fat I’ve acquired) that rests on my abdomen. I mean, let’s be honest, after having two kids in less than two years, it’s more than likely my skin is going to be a little loose. But it still bothers me.
So what do I do? I exercise. If I wake up early. And if I have enough energy. But exercising can only get me so far after a while. What else do I do? Buy cute clothes. Because nothing feels better after changing messy diapers, cleaning up huge milk spills, and trying to wipe off who-knows-what off of my clothes than wearing new clothes. And after that? Well, I talk to people. Maybe the word “complain” describes it better. And it feels soooo good.
I have this wonderful friend. We don’t really talk much or see each other much despite living so close to each other but you’ve got to just believe me – she’s great. She has started a new “Fitness & Junk” blog which just makes me feel more motivated to exercise, because like her, I want to be more toned. Skinniness isn’t as big of a deal to me as being fit. She posts about her goals, what she’s been up to, and other motivational stuff. Most recently, she posted about an insecurity that she has – her burn scars. She was completely open with talking about it. And I loved it. Because we all have insecurities and we think everyone notices, that everyone cares, and really, people probably hardly notice, if at all. Her insecurity of her scars was surprising to me because as much as I know I noticed them the first time I saw her, I haven’t noticed them since. Something that could be a huge potential insecurity to her is something that I don’t think most of the people she interacts with often ever notice.
I think we all have these insecurities. As women, as human beings, we have these insecurities that we don’t want others to notice. We have insecurities that we can’t get rid of. We have insecurities that we talk about too much to try to get rid of the bad feelings we have. We have insecurities that we try to cover up and hide. But one thing that seems to help is talking about it and letting others lift us up. Hence, my beautiful friend, has started another blog for all of us to contribute to and it is perfectly named “You’re Beautiful.”
Take a few minutes and write down all of your insecurities and submit it to the blog. You can write anonymously. You can share your fears. And you will feel better. Because you are more than just your body.
