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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Imperfect, and awesome

via here

Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think, "Hello, gorgeous!" Do you zero in on your favourite features and smile winningly at yourself? And then do you head out into the world, full of confidence at how beautiful and fantastic you are? I wish I did. But honestly, most of the time I don't. I don't think many of us do. We are too quick to focus on all the little "imperfections" that we see. I look in the mirror and I see the laugh lines around my mouth and eyes. The ten pounds I just don't seem to have the will-power to lose. And they're pretty much all I can think about. Isn't that sad? Where did we get the idea that we need to look perfect? And how can we shake it off? I guess we can start by focusing on the things that make us beautiful, outside and in. I'll go first and you follow in the comments, okay?

I like my green eyes. I like my freckles. I like my smile.
I am funny. I am kind. I am thoughtful.
I may not be perfect. But parts of me really are pretty awesome.

Your turn!

11 comments:

  1. I've been making lists and lists like this lately -- and honestly, I kinda want to revise the image so it reads "I may not be perfect but everything about me is pretty awesome." Yes, I want to lose some weight, but I've embraced it and acknowledged that it's there to tell me something about how I'm treating myself and living my life. I don't think we'll ever entirely get away from there being things we want to change, but I think we all can get a whole lot closer to really embracing ourselves.

    Ugh, am I on a soapbox? My apologies. No matter what imperfections we see, I think it's so good to focus on what we love about ourselves. The more we do that, the more we can unconditionally love ourselves overall.

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    1. If you are on a soapbox, my friend, I say stay there! You make perfect sense, and I love what you've written here. To unconditionally love oneself? Sounds like an excellent idea to me. Your revision of that image makes it even better than it already was. Thank you. xo

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  2. I love this post! I 100% agree!

    I love my eyes and my lips.
    And I gotta say, I got a pretty awesome rack ;) lol.
    And I am always there for people when they need me.

    Thank you :)

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    1. No, thank you, Britty! Your comment totally made me smile :0

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  3. This is awesome, Erin. I was just looking at family photos we took on vacation & feeling negative about how I looked in most of them (ugh). Here's to focusing on the positive : )

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    1. So I'm not the only one who does that, then? I delete half the photos with me in them...
      You're gorgeous, Alli!

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  4. I needed this. Tried on bras today... and hate my body right now. So... I love the definition in my hips, I love the my collar bone, and I love my ability to fight through anything.

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    1. The ability to fight through anything is a fabulous ability to possess!

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  5. Great post Erin! It can be difficult to keep focused on the positive and ignore the negative. I struggle with it as well. I'd have to say that the "awesome" parts of me are my hair (although it drives me crazy), my eyes, and my skin. I try to let the little negatives roll off my back, but some days they just seem to win! It's a constant struggle :)

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  6. Why is it so hard to be kind to ourselves? thank-you for allowing us to focus on the positive (agreed, great post idea!)

    I like how strong my legs are thanks to pilates.
    The shape of my eyes.
    My pre-baby bump belly -- I never had abs but it was flat and still curvy if that makes sense.
    You know what, even my belly now because knock on wood-- no stretch marks yet! i never had abs but it was flat and still curvy if that makes sense.
    I'm giving-- if I have it and you need it, I will give it to you whole heartedly.

    I needed this post, especially now when I'm feeling particularly huge at 8 months and putting on clothes and not staying in my pajamas is a daily battle.

    XO

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  7. Erin -- this post really made me think. Oftentimes like you mentioned, I go through life with the "everything's fine" attitude and "I love myself" mentality. But if I let myself, I think about those imperfections and how I don't like certain things about my appearance. It was really bad about three years ago, but now, with my weight loss and my changing body, I've learned to have that "I love myself" exterior match my inner thoughts about myself. I'm so glad that I have friends like you who are brave enough to share their thoughts with the whole world.

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Yay! I love comments.

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