By AMY STOCKWELL
These days we hear so much about what and who we’ve got to be – at home, at work, in private, in public, with our family, with our friends. It’s time-consuming, demanding, stressful and entirely counter-productive.
With all of the pressure that women feel to be a certain way, a list of “Things You Must Do” or “Things You Must Be” in order to have body confidence is likely to send your self-esteem into free fall. So instead of a list of things that you must do, here’s a little reminder of things you aren’t; a list of things that you don’t have to be; and a list of things you don’t have to do in order to boost your self esteem.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is brought to you by our partners at Fernwood Fitness. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
1. You are not your body
You *have* a body. This is quite a different thing. You aren’t your legs, your boobs, your face. You might have legs, boobs and faces, but you aren’t them.
Your body does not define who you are, whether you like your body or not. Your body is your friend, it is your home – but it is not you.
2. You aren’t a photograph
How many times have you looked at an old photograph and thought, “Wow, I didn’t even know how beautiful I was then. I wish I was that beautiful now.”
A few things, here: firstly, you are always better looking in real life than you are in a photo. A photo captures a point in time, but you, as an animated, responsive human being are always going to be much more than that. You’re more beautiful than any photograph tells you (even the ones you like – imagine that!).
Secondly, to boost your self esteem, stop wishing you were the person you were in the past. You are probably remembering that time over-fondly – but even if you aren’t, consider all of the important things you have learned since then. Remember the battles you have fought, the laughs that you’ve had and the challenges that you’ve faced. You may have lost and hurt and changed, but that just makes you more complete, more interesting and more ready for the challenges in the future. The person you are now knows more and is more than the person in the photograph.
Thirdly, in the future, you could be looking at a picture of yourself now and thinking “I wish I realised how great I was back then”. Take a short cut and start thinking you are great now.
3. You aren’t a rental
You own your body. Your body isn’t a rental car that you drive around for a short time and don’t need to understand or appreciate. Your body does some amazing stuff every day – it gets you around, it transforms food into energy, it lifts, twists, swings and dances, and for some women, it grows and nourishes children.
The human body used to be primordial sludge that looked like something you sneezed into a tissue. Now it’s a remarkable machine that science hasn’t even begun to understand.
Top Comments
This is so true! I've shared this on facebook and so far a few of my friends have also shared it! Such a great boost for self-esteem :) thanks MM for another fantastic post!