I’m sure we all know that famous line, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” I think many people, especially women in today’s society, worry about comparing themselves to others. I think I speak for many people when I say that often times when I look in the mirror, I have something negative to say about myself. That isn’t okay and it needs to change starting right now.
What Is Holding You Back?
What is holding you back from looking in the mirror and liking what you see? For me, it’s the stigma around what is the ideal look for women in today’s society. We always see pictures online and in the media of beautiful and perfect women and we automatically compare ourselves without even knowing it. I personally never look at a picture of a model, for example, and immediately wish I looked more like the model, even though that is a reality for many people.
What I do though is look in the mirror and immediately critique myself for my cellulite, big arms, having a stomach far from flat. Comparing ourselves to images portrayed in the media and other people in our lives needs to be a thing of the past. We can’t let silly comparisons hold us back anymore.
Gaining Confidence
Focus on the positives! Think of at least one thing you like about yourself and focus on that. While being confident and loving yourself in your entirety is the goal, it’s not so easy to do immediately, so start small and work your way up!
Take care of your mental health! The happier you are, the more confident you are.
Adopt a healthy lifestyle! Often times the first thing we think when we don’t like what we see in the mirror is to workout and diet. While working out and eating healthy are both very important, they should be done for the right reasons. Adopting a workout routine and a healthy diet should be done to better your health and how you feel, not just to lose weight to look different. Also, working out is a great mood boost which can help you gain confidence!
You are the only one of you, so own it! Everyone is different, so be yourself. Once you accept that, you’ll be one step closer to loving you for you and having the confidence you should have in yourself. Take pride in being unique.
We have taught ourselves to use mirrors as a tool to criticize ourselves and it’s time we change that. Gaining confidence and truly accepting yourself for being you is a journey and it’s not easy, but it’s time to look in the mirror and love what you see regardless of what society tells us the ideal woman should look like.