Dissatisfaction with our bodies…what woman do you know who is totally satisfied with her body, her face, her hair…her looks overall?

I recall worrying about my nose as a pre-teen.  Innocent teasing had made me think it was too large.  And the thought didn’t escape me until I was in my mid-twenties.  When I did let that idea go, it wasn’t of my own accord or spontaneous enlightenment.  Rather, I was at a makeup expo where we all got to spend a couple of minutes with a very famous Hollywood makeup artist.  We were allowed to ask him any question we wanted, and mine was how to play down my nose size…to which he chuckled in a very kind manner and asked what made me think my nose was a problem.  He then was able to show me that my nose was perfectly proportionate to my face, and that it had no bumps, dents…anything to make it unacceptable.  A light went off in my head that day…one that made me realize that much of my personal image was very distorted.

Women seem to be designed to have a greater consciousness of self and personal appearance than most men.  This isn’t new to the 21st century.  History is replete with anecdotes of women being jealous of another’s beauty, or spending hours and hours preening themselves just to be good enough to make an appearance at one gathering or another.  But, I see a growing exaggeration of self-image issues, and I think our natural desire to present ourselves in the best light is pushed FAR out of context by modern advertising, entertainment personalities, and other such images.

I have lost count of the times I have spoken with a woman about having her portrait made and her reply was something like “I’ll call you after I lose a few more pounds.”

Count Your Blessings

Ladies, we need to stop worrying about how we appear as compared to others.  Rather, let’s put a healthy twist on our concerns and spend time cultivating our relationships, engaging in healthy living (stay active and eat with some level of self-control), caring for our responsibilities and enjoying the reward of a job well done…and most of all…look for blessings small and great daily for which to be thankful.  I truly believe that if we involve ourselves in living our lives fully and loving those who we have been given as family, friends and trusted coworkers, we will find a new joy.

Let’s stop worrying about what we haven’t, and start daily counting our blessings and looking for reasons to be content.  Give the love within us to those around us, and accept love in return.  In doing so, we will find a new happiness that comes from thinking beyond our own hurts and dissatisfactions, and start living in a world of gratefulness and contentment.