Accepting Yourself

In yesterday's post, I talkled a little bit about how when it comes to how you present yourself and your appearance, you can do whatever you want, but you should do it with your own best interest at heart. Part of doing that comes from accepting yourself. If you can look in the mirror after a shower, with your dripping wet hair and freshly cleaned face and truly feel good about yourself, hey you're doing better than I am that's for sure. There's something about getting out of the shower and looking in the mirror that I hate from the bottom of my heart. In that moment I see every red blotch on my face with the background of white porcelain tiles that seem to make them redder and blotchier and stand out a whole hell of a lot more. I see the fat hanging from my gut from that extra piece of cake I should not have eaten last night. I see the whiteness of my legs, lacking the sun kissed glow as if I was a ghost or hadn't ventured outside in the past century. It's not a fun moment for me.

Sure, I've had the days I'm really feeling myself and I find myself feeling confident and occasionally even sexy while getting out of the shower, but those days are few to many in the mix of the more common uncertainty and embarrassment. You're so vulnerable and unprotected in that moment. Wet and naked. No baggy sweatshirt to cover my stomach, no makeup on my face, nothing. That is precisely why I use that moment to gauge my current self-confidence level.

Finding that moment in time or place for yourself can be difficult, but worth it. This concept may seem way out of the ordinary to you but listen here: when I sit there and criticize myself, I take note of the first thing that comes to my mind. I take that and I work on it. Maybe I'll go to the gym the next day if one day I notice my belly. Or lay out in the sun for twenty minutes if it's my white legs. Whatever it is, the whole concept is self-improvement for the self. I noticed I didn't like how I looked so I did something about it for myself.

Once you've gotten yourself to the point where you are at complete self acceptance, that's when you've got it right.