Poise, grace and an A+ in life in general, is determined by perception not by Photoshop.
All my life I’ve been comparing myself to others; the popular girls in school, the magazine models and actors as I got older, the girls who did the most amazing yoga poses when I could only do a level one handstand – secretly I wished I was as pretty or good or rich as they were.
Coincidentally I fell into depression every time I did think about it – when I thought about all I lacked.
But through it all, all the doubt and hate I had for myself, I found peace with all that I was. I sometimes tell women around me, love yourself and your body, then you’ll reach the potential you need to reach. But it’s not that easy, is it?
Instagramming may have been the worst thing I ever did… Why? Because everyone on the app was wildly perfect… perfect bodies, perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect families, perfect homes…
I on the other-hand was figuring out how to take a selfie without showing my fat arms or my double chin.
It was a post on Instagram which inspired this post. Vanity fair posted a photo of Sophie Turner (The amazingly beautiful ‘Queen’ of the north - House Stark 😉) VF posted, ‘A year after ST’s turn on the VF cover she turns 21’ – WAIT WHAT?!
I looked at the photo of this beautiful woman, and I nearly choked on my own spit. Here I am older than the famous Sophie and she looks like she could beat my young ass by seven years!!! The poise, the grace, the perfected brooding look, the A+ skills on how to handle oneself.
“How in the hell will I find a husband when 21 year old's looks like she does!”
In all defense that was my first reaction, my second on the other hand was, “lets post something” and my third, you may ask? I took a look at what I was doing with my life, where I lived, who I knew…etc.
Although I said Instagramming may have ruined my perception in the past, I now know it only made me realize what I had was enough.
I realized after two years of yoga, I ended up doing the level one handstand with poise, I’ve been studying for a few years, I’ve been working for longer, I may not have a boyfriend on the horizon but my friends and family called me beautiful once in a while, a have a family who loves me, a home, a dog and I’m helping my friend with her wedding plans.
Life is good… it’s not amazingly beautiful, with buckets full of money, with a beautiful house where we all could live, but we have what we have, even after all that we went through.
Life is good.
So today, take your eyes off your imperfections and focus on all you achieved… If you’re a mom, remember you achieve something each day by teaching your children… If you’re a career woman, remember you worked your beautiful ass off to get there… if you’re the girl who’s trying a new career or just found out you’re pregnant or placed your faith in the pizza not to make you fat, remember YOU ARE WOMEN!
YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO BE PERFECT… you were made to enjoy the life you have and pay it forward…
A local artist once said, “Find something to be thankful for each day, be thankful for your house, the bread you have, the people in your life, the work you do and if you don’t have anything buy a puppy and call him ‘Thankyou’, that way you’ll say it a few times a day!”
