There’s rarely a day that goes by that we don’t have to look in the mirror. We glance at this torturous piece of glass first thing in the morning when we’re brushing our teeth. Our hair is messed up, we have pillow lines on our faces and our eyes are puffy. Oh, and did I mention that we look tired? Of course we’re simply not awake yet—or, even worse, we just didn’t sleep well. Either way, we look tired.
So this is how we start our day—with negative thoughts and emotions about our appearance. I know, not ALL women have these evil thoughts about themselves, but MOST of us do. And if you’re one of them, don’t blame yourself. Just realize that self-loathing is not only harmful to you, but harmful to your family. Your spouse suffers from it because when you’re not feeling attractive, sex is out of the question. Even worse, your children learn their behaviors about how they view themselves from you.
If you want to change the way you think, let’s do it together. For one week, we will let go of all negative thoughts and emotions about ourselves. It sounds like an easy task, but it’s really quite difficult to do. But if we make a commitment to each other, it will be easier.
For 1 week we will:
- Start our day by listing 5 things we love about ourselves each day
- Replace self-criticisms with compliments
- Do something special for ourselves each day. It could be as simple as reading a chapter of your favorite book during lunch or taking a nice hot bath.
- Not compare ourselves to others or our younger selves
Every time a negative thought starts to enter your mind, chase it away. Don’t allow poison to enter your mind! Be as kind to yourself as you are to your friends and see how you feel after a week.
Are you with me?
Molly
I could not agree more. I was very optimistic/positive in my youth, but the older I get the harder it is to think positively about myself or my situation. I am almost 50, very insecure and generally unhappy. What happened? I will give it my best try and let you know how it goes.
Hi Christine: I just turned 50 myself so I know exactly how you feel. I am with you so let’s do this together 🙂 Please share with your friends who need a good kick in the butt 🙂
Loved this post- so true and something we can all be better at! Thanks Molly.
Thanks Brenda. We treat our friends and family with love and respect…we should do the same for ourselves 🙂 Happy Early New Year!
I used to get very upset at high school. lots of the girls wore makeup and I didn’t. I thought I was really ugly and I hated myself. all those girls had ‘boyfriends’ and I didn’t. I actually didn’t know they wore makeup until I looked closer and saw there thick eye liner, thick foundation and mascara. we weren’t allowed to were makeup at school. when we got a female year co. things changed. one day all the girls who were wearing makeup came out of her office looking like completely different people kind of like seeing celebs without makeup!
I felt much better after that. I even felt beautiful.
Thank you for taking the time to write Talya. It’s so funny how we compare ourselves to others, especially when what we are seeing is not real.
Stay happy and be the beauty that you are 🙂