all bodies are good bodies

Last week, I was watching Bachelor in Paradise and just generally feeling like shit about myself. I kept thinking, "Damn, they look good." And if they look good, there has to be an opposite of that, meaning someone looks bad and that someone obviously had to be me since I was the one sitting on my ass drinking a too-full glass of chardonay. BUT WHY? When did we decide that the people of the world can be divided into two categories - those who look good and those who look bad. Why do we allow ourselves to be our own worst critic?

Not to get all biblical but when God made us (fearfully and wonderfully!), He said we were very good. So, why don't you wake up every morning and tell yourself that you have a good body? What has to change in order for you to consider yourself very good? Here's a secret: you'll reach that milestone and you still won't be satisfied with your body. So why not begin to condition yourself to love yourself right where you are?

This is not an easy process. Many people would consider me to be very "body positive" and here I am agonizing over how I look in a bikini. I still have bad body image days even though I love my body. Media, and social media specifically, serve as constant reminders that the world says we aren't good enough. So what are some concrete steps you can take to begin to love your body?

Tell yourself. That's right, say it out loud. "My body is a good body," "my body allows me to ________," etc. Have y'all ever heard about that study where they had two different plants - one they spoke to in a negative way ("you're the worst plant!") and one they only said nice things to ("oh look at you grow!"). And what happened? The plant they criticized died and the plant they praised flourished. Now, I have no idea if that really happened but let's operate under the assumption that it did.

Allow yourself to flourish, my friend.