Confident Beginnings

Before my shower today, I found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror not too excited about what I saw. Within about 1 min I was able to pick out about 50 different things I hate about my body. Disgusted, I got in the shower.
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While lathering, I got to thinking: I know I’m not the only woman out there who does this, some on a daily basis. How sad is it that instead of praising ourselves, we knock ourselves down a few pegs every time we see our reflection? Are we that horrible? I doubt it. Maybe we don’t look like the woman on the cover of Maxim, but that woman doesn’t really look like that either!
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I’m sick of comparing myself to women who have stylists and professional air brushing. I refuse to treat myself this way (I will just have to re-read this on my low days!). So I gave myself a challenge, one that I encourage you to take as well.
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I once again stood in front of the mirror, but this time, I had to say at least 10 good things about my body…No matter how long it took me.
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For a little motivation, I will share my list with you (no matter how embarrassing it is). Please share yours too, let’s inspire each other to love what we’ve got.
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What I like about my body:
1. My breasts. They aren’t huge but they have nourished a baby for the past 21 months. I feel so lucky to have them.
2. I’ve always liked my hips. They give me that feminine curve that I find sexy.
3. My feet. My husband will get a good laugh off this one. He says I have Flintstone feet, but I think they are absolutely perfect; I wouldn’t change anything about them.
4.  My tattoos. They don’t all represent who I am today, but they remind me of where I was. Each one has a memory attached to it.
5. My teeth. Thank you, Mom and Dad for spending a fortune on braces. I take pride in my straight teeth, which are especially white and clean since I went to the dentist last week.
6. My lips. I’ve always loved nice full lips; a big thanks to Mom for those!
7. Blond arm hair. I know this seems odd, but I’ve had a strong dislike for body hair most of my life. I used to shave my entire body, so I didn’t have to have any hair. Within the past couple months I’ve let my arm hair grow…this is a HUGE step for me. I’m very pleased with the fact that although I have a lot of arm hair, it’s blond. I’m not sure I could handle it if it was brown/black.
8. The beauty mark on my left breast. Remember how great the Cindy Crawford beauty mark was? That’s how my breast beauty mark is. It’s like it was placed there, a perfect accent piece.
9. My hands. I love the little wrinkles in my hands, they looked weathered, and I love it.
10. My eyelashes. They aren’t as long as my kids, but they are long enough for me.
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Whew, see that wasn’t that hard. Now you try.