I like to stay healthy. Especially with my very sedentary job. Squash is my main form of exercise, but I try to bolster it with occasional trips to the gym to hit the bike and weights.
Standing in front of the mirror, with a couple of weights in my hands, I looked at my reflection and thought, “You don’t look half bad you know.” I’ve never been one to be overly concerned about body image. A long time ago I accepted the shape I am. But today was the first time I looked at my reflection and looked at it in more than an accepting kind of way.
Sure I’m short – at 5″2, I’m no super model. My belly’s a bit wobbly, but it’s not that bad. I have arms. In that my arms have muscles. They actually look pretty good. Wide shoulders for someone who’s “petite”, thanks to years of swim training as a kid. Thanks to squash, I now have calves that aren’t just a bit wibbly wobbly. All in all, it’s a pretty good package.
And today I looked at myself and was happy with what I saw. Genuinely happy. I might have actually said in my head, “I DO look good”. Think we could all do with saying that to ourselves a bit more often.
Jaina, now you’ve got brains and brawn! Honestly though, I think you have a very healthy and positive body image. An inspiration for us all!
Nice. It’s important to recognize and celebrate those moments. It’s funny because I recently joined a gym and after the initial shock of “Oh, lordy, am I out of shape.” It’s been good to take better care of myself. I need to now keep it up!
That’s exactly it – it’s that feeling that doing that little bit to really push yourself – it does make you feel good.
You can keep it up, Lani!
Good for you! I think we are all beautiful… I find it so easy to notice everyone else’s beauty but I am the last person to ever call MYSELF beautiful. I just see my flaws. Some days I look in the mirror and think “You look pretty!” but then I take a selfie and ah goodness… it takes about 100 shots to get a decent photo! So then I feel crappy about myself. 🙁
I need to work on staying positive!
I’m the same. We’re our own worst critics, and sometimes it’s just so hard to stop thinking like that. I’m not very brave when it comes to taking selfies, for some reason. I just can’t do it. Like you, I tend to look back at the selfies I take, and think I look terrible. I equate it to hearing my own voice, or watching myself in a video….
Now that is one of the best compliments to give yourself and mean it. Happy to read that when you look in the mirror, your reflections prods out positive thoughts as opposed to the negative ones that sometimes plague the minds of others, me included 🙂
It’s good to be more positive – though even I struggle with it. This little revelation has definitely helped!
Agree with your last line. Everywhere we look it seems like people are being harsh and ragging on themselves (me included!) and your post is a good reminder to be kind to ourselves. Nice gym too!
Sometimes I feel like we’re the least kind to ourselves, at times. When we should be doing the opposite.
We’re lucky with the gym – it’s in our building. Not sure I’d be so pro-active with the gym if it wasn’t!