Drop Dead Gorgeous

How many of us really love our bodies?

Hmmm I thought so.

We all have parts and pieces of our body that we consider "flawed". You know the part (s) of you that you  think could be better? I know you know what I am talking about.

The waist that is not skinny enough, the thick ankles, the stretch marks, those ears, that thin upper lip, that nose, that tiny chest. Whatever it is, everyone has something they'd change if they could.

But are they really as big of flaws as we think? Or is it just the way we perceive our own body.

Heck let's face it, we are so mean to ourselves.

While we may give others a break on their figure flaws, like the woman at the beach in the bikini who really shouldn't be wearing a two piece at all. We think to ourselves, wow, how awesome that she is so confident in her own skin and dares to wear that, giving her credit for the strength, not the flaw.
Again, we see the pluses in others.

Why is it so much easier to see past the imperfections of others, yet beat ourselves up about our own?

If you are anything like me, I totally zero in on my flaws, and maybe even exaggerate them to much larger proportions.

I have this friend who is absolutely beautiful. She is drop dead gorgeous. But she thinks her thighs are too big. She won't even let them make the slightest appearance in a photo. It's almost an obsession.

I want to tell her to stop the madness. To just zip it. To love her body, with all its perceived imperfections, right now, 100%. Stop seeing "flaws" that no one else sees. Give yourself a break.

Soon enough, I'm afraid, she will wish that she had those thighs back again. Because it seems to me that as you age, your imperfections only get worse and new ones crop up faster than you can even keep up with.

Almost without warning things can go south. You can go grey, like overnight. Well okay not really overnight, but it seems that way. Or you look down and your once sexy knees all of a sudden have droopy skin hanging around them, think elephant skin. Oh my gosh when did I get old lady knees? And let's not even talk about the big boob droop. (That can happen even without breastfeeding.)

I have always complained about my lack of a waist line. Only to discover in looking back at pictures of my younger self, I once actually did have a waist line, and just never appreciated it. Now it is long gone. Why didn't I make the most of that little bit of waist indentation I had way back then? Because I didn't appreciate my body. I wasn't nice to myself. I just didn't know how someday I'd actually have to figure out ways to cover up my lack of waistline, thank goodness for low rise jeans.

I want to yell at my friend and tell her that her thighs fit her perfectly. And that even if she thinks they are a little big, no one is looking at them anyway. Her back, shoulders, upper arms and tiny waist are the most gorgeous things ever. If only she could see what I see, and what the rest of the world sees. She'd let every picture of her thighs and the rest of her body make it onto Facebook, without hesitation.

So my advice to all of you is to please take it easy on YOURself. Love what you have. Embrace those imperfections. Flaunt your strengths... while you still have some.

In other words, be nicer to yourself.