A little bit different of a post today!

So today's post isn't about clothes. Isn't about shoes, and isn't about handbags. So if you were hoping for that, I am sorry. Today's post is about a subject that I have been wanting to write about for a while now. And I would not say it has nothing to do with clothing, because in a lot of ways it does. The subject is self esteem and how you view yourself, how others view you & what your view really should be. This is a daily struggle for me. Very seldom do I have a day where I look in the mirror and think "Wow, I look great!". Normally I find that I feel like my weight is too high, or my measurements are too big. Or something about my outfit bothers me and I feel like I am not as put together as I should be! This naturally drives my poor husband insane! Sometimes by miracle I feel all pretty & put together but those times are often few & far between. Why is it like this? For me I have always struggled with my weight, just accepting it and accepting my flaws in that area. That I am not a size 2 and will never be. That my arms aren't full of lovely muscles and that my stomach isn't crazy flat. Prior to having Myles I was down a few sizes and feeling decent about my weight, then gaining 45 pounds during pregnancy, and the fact I am now past 30 has left me 20 pounds over my goal weight. I for sure want to and probably need to work on losing it, but lately my goal has just been to find clothing my size that is flattering and doesn't draw attention to flaw areas (arms & waistline for me). But back to why we always view ourselves so poorly? Well I think (sorry media) that media should take a big amount of the blame. When is the last time you viewed a fashion magazine and saw normal women in it? Or browsed online for clothing (Does Anthropologie or J.Crew know that a lot of people aren't a 000 or a 0 and that using normal sized models would really help?). I recently discovered that an 8 or 10 in the modeling world is plus sized! Magazines, TV, Celebrities, Clothing store catalogs. All places we see women on a daily basis. And they most all look polished, and slender and of course the flawless skin & hair. And then we just look in the mirror and when we don't see that we feel badly about ourselves. We are judging ourselves against a photoshopped, tweaked with image. And even though I know that, it is still hard! Even the slimmest girls I know all have some area of self esteem issues themselves. I have actually had friends feel insecure that they are too thin! Imagine! A goal I think we need to have, something I personally want to work on, is to find a positive about ourselves each and every day! And another think also that I think would be helpful is to give your friends and family a positive, truthful compliment about themselves. I know I think complimentary thoughts regarding people often, but seldom say them out loud. Like telling my friend Ruth that her hair is so gorgeous! Or telling my friend Leah that she has the most beautiful blue eyes! Or telling another friend Kristen how I admire how she loves on her children and is an awesome mother. It is often easy to feel weird about paying a compliment or feel cheesy but I think it is often an important way of encouraging another. Try to build friends up daily and not engage in the competitions that cause us to feel badly about themselves. God made us in his image and I imagine it is insulting of us to always be hating on ourselves (His creation!). What is the hardest area for you to be insecure? Do you feel like others make you more aware of it by criticism or that the people you are surrounded by build you up?

And a photo from one of those rare "good self esteem" days!