Everything changed when I stopped comparing.
Warning...what I’m going to suggest is going to take a while to accomplish and will be something you’ll need to work on every day. Progress...not perfection.
1st step: Make a conscious effort to STOP COMPARING AND STOP COMPETING.
I spent a lot of years comparing. I compared myself to other girls who were petite or small. I compared myself to athletic girls who could jump and run. I compared myself to lean and long dancers who could dance on their toes and spin.
I was competing with bodies that weren’t built like mine. Expecting my body to do things it wasn’t built to do.
I’ve always had big legs, big lips, big hips. It just is what it is....and while some of that might be “in style” now...it certainly wasn’t when I grew up. All we wanted was big hair and bangs, skinny legs & lips and a flat butt (this is all true...ladies of the 80’s remember?!)
So I started comparing...I listened to the kids call me ‘bongo hips and lips’ and believed that I wasn’t good enough because I didn’t look a certain way.
I think we have all been there and we all beat ourselves up for not fitting into norms or whatever society views as “pretty” in that decade.
Then, after years of comparing and competing and saying yucky things to myself....I decided to STOP. I had a daughter who I brought into this world and I never wanted her to feel inferior for the way her body was made. I wanted her to celebrate her strengths in her body and not compare. I needed to lead by example.
Everything changed when I stopped comparing and competing. I realized that my legs were powerhouses on the bike. I realized that my height allowed me to carry myself with strength. I realized that if I accept and love my body it was capable of amazing things.
This was a 35 plus year journey that I am still on daily.
I encourage you to find something amazing about YOU and celebrate it. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks...it matters what you say and think.
I promise if you stop comparing you’ll become free and happier.
We were born unique with exactly what we need to serve our purpose...no one is ever going to be like you and you’ll never be, look or act like anyone else. What a wonderful gift that is!
Another moral of this story is that whatever is “in style” for the perfect body now will definitely change...if you get old enough you’ll see it come full circle (mom jeans is a perfect example:))
XOXO, Angie