Tag: self-confidence

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Bodacious Beauty, Acceptance & Self-Esteem

Bodacious Beauty

Bodacious Beauty, Acceptance & Self-Esteem

Loving yourself while working to become the best version of yourself for YOU is key!

A Recent Outing

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I love the humorous banter between my son and I. Here is a recent exchange between him and me on a shopping excursion for exercise apparel. 

Me: Do you know what body shape I am?

Son: (Laughing) Round?

Me: (Exasperated tone) No! I’m a triangle.

Son: (Still laughing) Don’t you mean you’re a cone shape? Like a traffic cone?

Me: **crickets** (Then I begin laughing hysterically)

An Authentic Hot Mess

I’m a hot mess and I know it! According to my medical chart, I’m obese, a fact of which I’ve lived in denial for a few years now.

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures from the right angle to hide present a more pleasing view? No longer a spring chicken it’s almost impossible to suck in an overabundance of a stomach that used to be a waistline.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed the willpower I used to have has given way to “oh, what the heck?” It’s a plan that works very effectively. I eat what I want when I want and it feels so GOOD. That is until I have to look presentable and find to my dismay my clothes don’t fit—surprise.

What I’ve learned is there’s only so much one can consume before it becomes a serious problem. The “head in the sand” approach is no longer working and I have to, I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, exercise and eat right.

My son thought it was hilarious that I was wearing skinny jeans that showed every bump and bulge. His thinking was skinny jeans are for skinny people. But my thinking is skinny jeans are for anyone as long as the fit is right. Obviously, with my increasing poundage mine have not been fitting right for some time, another case of denial. But, and this is huge, I’m going to use that gym membership I secured last year. And, I’m gonna make better choices when it comes to eating (at least I hope so). I just may resort to the “Oh what the heck?” philosophy.

Getting To The Point

The point I’m trying to make is while my image is important to me I try to balance it with humor. We only come this way once and I want to make the most of it by not being too hard on myself. The understanding I will never be pleasing to everyone is freeing and magnificently beneficial to my psyche.

Accepting yourself while working to become the best version of you for YOU is key! What was life-changing for me was realizing that being my best for myself was what mattered most.

Here’s a little perspective: there are over 7 billion people on earth, all are unique and all won’t like everyone.

Bodacious Beauty Featured Image Description:

This shot is a pose of me with ‘black’ #WhiteCane, taken from the perspective of me looking down at my feet. My cane is to the left of my right foot. I’m wearing white skinny jeans paired with tan ballet flats with a little poofy floret type thing on top.

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Mirror selfie of me wearing a black polo shirt with an embroidered design of Abby, text, and braille.

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Blindness, Self-Confidence, and Being Enough

Blindness, Self-Confidence, and Being Enough Featured Image Description is in the body of the post.

Today’s Guest Post was originally published on BlindAlive February 05, 2017 by Mel Scott

Being Enough What Does It Mean?

What does it mean to “be enough?” How does it feel? How will we know when we have reached that blissful state of “enoughness?”

These questions have been churning in my brain consciously for years, and probably subconsciously all my life. Well, I have been pondering on it long enough. I have some ideas that might help sort it out.

To say, “I am enough” is a very different statement than, “I have enough.” We can quantify “having enough:” there is enough food, shelter, or whatever it is that is required. “Being enough” is a bit more elusive. It is a state of mind. To be willing to say, “I am enough” and truly believe it, even for an instant, allows for a feeling of inner spaciousness; a peaceful expansion of consciousness.

I could easily tell you at this point to do twenty affirmations every day saying, “I am enough,” and eventually you will feel better. This absolutely can be an effective practice. I use it myself but I want to introduce another idea.

Are We Being Realistic In Our Expectations?

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation and the person said to me, “I am sad because I am not enough.” Usually, I might have said something like, “Of course you are, look at all the people you have helped and influenced over your lifetime.” There are a lot of dismissive remarks I could have made. This time, however, what shot out of my mouth was, “You are right! You are not enough and you never will be, so get over it!” I felt kind of shocked when it spilled out of me, but I realized the truth of the statement immediately.

How can any of us ever be “enough” when the To Do List is infinite? How can we be enough when we feel “less than” due to blindness, deafness, or a thousand other physical conditions, or when the size of our pants aren’t the size we have decided is the perfect one? How can we ever be enough when we measure ourselves by a superhero we have conjured up in our own minds? How can we be enough when the mark moves up as soon as we reach it?

We can’t! There is no way! Therefore, to be sad about not being enough means you will be sad about it the rest of your life. That does not work for me.

A Proposed Solution

The way I see it is I can either drop the thought, “I am not enough” and even drop the thought “I am enough.” They really are not useful because a measurement is inherent in both statements. I propose we drop them both. Can you imagine that? You never have to be enough again and you never will feel sad again because you are not enough. “Being enough” is no longer a measurement that applies to us.

How does that feel?

For me, a whole world of guilt-free possibilities just opened up. So much inner space can be created if we get over “being enough.” Let it go and observe how you feel. Take it in and you might breathe easier.

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Featured Image Description:

In the photo are 6 flat stones atop one another decreasing in size to convey balance. The stones are sitting on a rocky beach in the foreground. In the background is the ocean and the pastel colored sky is on the horizon. The color palette is a calm, soothing one in softly muted grays, blues, pinks, and whites.