My taste. My personality. What I do with my life...
And finally for the first time since I can remember I feel free.
Being the youngest, I would look to my sisters. Then as I got older, my best friend. Then my boyfriend. Then my husband. And then, worst of all, other women...women I had never even met before (and some that I had).
I don't know when it started, this obsession with finding our faults and our flaws. Having contests with other girls to see who wins for the worst self-image. It's a cycle: someone insults themselves and you can't say "Whoa, yeah...I totally see what you mean. You're butt has gotten a lot bigger since the last time I saw you!" so instead you say. "What?? That's nothing. Have you seen the bags under my eyes? And these wrinkles/acne/dark circles/pasty legs/unibrow! Don't even get me started!"
Well, if you're looking for flaws, you will find them. If you keep pointing them out over and over then pretty soon you'll become your insecurities.
That's how it was for me. Years and years of focusing on flaws instead of seeing the original beauty has taken a toll, but I'm not only affecting my self-image...but my daughter's as well.
I am unique. My desires, my goals, my ambitions. My style.
And I love it. I embrace it. Now it's your turn.
