Beauty Really is in the Eye of the Beholder!

 

I just saw this video on futurefreaksme blog. It is essentially an advert by Dove. Yet it really triggered something in me emotionally and got me thinking... 

Why is it that as women we see ourselves so differently to the way others see us?

If I had been one of the women in that video I would have described myself as having a long face, small smile, thin lips, big forehead and big chin. I have always been a harsh critic of myself. A lot of this stems from the bullying I received as a child for the way I looked. Not that I looked strange, in fact when I look at pictures of myself I see a small, cute little red head but at the time I hated myself. This is pretty much the same for most of the periods in my life. Even if I look at pictures from 6 months ago, at the time I may not have thought I looked nice; too fat, too skinny, too this too that but when I look back I see something completely different.

I sat listening to these women describing themselves. I was literally shouting at the screen saying "that is not true!! you are so beautiful". Upon actually hearing myself saying these things, what I realised was that in fact I was talking to myself. I need to listen to my own thoughts about those women and accept the words myself... 

"that is not true!! you are so beautiful"

So how does it make sense for me to continue with the negative opinions and beliefs I have about myself when I am shouting at the screen to these ladies that their descriptions of themselves are so wrong?

The truth is that I wish I could love myself more and I try everyday. This video has made me see that actually I am not alone in the way I see myself. All these other women feel the same. This gives me strength and courage to try and like even a tiny bit of myself.

I really think that as women we all deserve to love ourselves and there is nothing wrong with that. People say 'nobody is perfect' but actually I think every one of us is perfect... Our flaws make us perfect. Because Nature doesn't make mistakes, we are all exactly how we are suppose to be.

All my love