I have seen the most beautiful people in the world hate their bodies. I have also seen body confidence from the most unlikely of sources, proving that in the nature-vs.- nurture argument in relation to body confidence, it is nurture that wins.
When you ask yourself the question of where your body confidence is on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being rock solid confident, where do you fall? I used to fall in the 2-3 range, in fact, I spent from the age of 14-24 there. I am proud to say that I am now consistently a 9-10 range, thanks to years of determined self-discipline to eliminate negative body-talk.
Our relationships with our bodies dictate a lot more about our lives than “just feeling good” about ourselves. Being uncomfortable in the skin one is in leads to addictions, self-abuse, and compromises to one’s standards of belief. You see, if your relationship with your body is lower than a 7 on the scale of 10, then you are fighting a battle of body acceptance. Denying one’s body is no different than denying yourself, and if you deny yourself, then you will never have the freedom or joy to fully be yourself. In turn, the impact that you are meant to make on the world will never come to full fruition.
More than anything, you can determine the state of your relationship with your body based upon the things you say to yourself about your body. I call it body-talk. From both personal experience and from meeting with hundreds of clients over the past six years, negative body-talk can be toxic. We judge ourselves with a standard of cruelty that aligns with words that we would never utter out-loud to anyone else. It is simply not acceptable to talk that way, not to others, and especially not to ourselves.
Every day is an opportunity to improve our relationship with your body. It starts with making a commitment to stop negative body-talk. If you would never say what you think about yourself (your thighs, your fat, your skin complexion, etc) to anyone else, then you have no right to ever say it to yourself. Discipline of mind like this takes time, but, as with anything, any consistent, concerted effort towards something develops a habit. I speak from experience to say that discipline of positive body-talk is possible, no matter how mean towards your body you have been in the past.
Start today by accepting that your body is beautiful as is. Accept that your body is different from anyone else and that by choosing to love your body today, you will transform in front of your own eyes. Beauty comes in all sizes and shapes, it’s time that you start accepting the truth.