Learning to Love Yourself Where You Are

Friday I took the kids to the pool with a friend of mine. The day started with me feeling pretty gross about my appearance, and the lack of a swim-suit-ready body. But I chose to love myself despite the way I felt. I posted about it on Facebook, and I was BLOWN AWAY by how many people liked it and commented. It's one of my most commented posts to date. So, I thought I would share with you on here what I posted, because I think it's a message that a lot of us moms (and women in general) can relate to.....

Confession: Today I put on my swim suit and my bathing suit cover...and felt terrible looking at that person in the mirror. I always feel better being covered, but that bathing suit cover did NOT do me any justice. So, I had a decision to make. I could feel crappy about myself all day, or I could go be an example for my daughter, who watches everything I do. I could've complained about myself (believe me, I wanted to) but her ears were listening. So I threw that bathing suit cover down, I put on a cute bandana and some fun sun glasses and I took my kids to the pool. And I actually felt confident and beautiful. I know my daughter is watching me. I know that if she hears me criticize myself, that she will criticize herself too. I'm a mom of two. I have extra curves and scars from childbirth...and today I chose to love myself despite all of that. When I was at the pool, I wasn't feeling self conscious. I was just a proud mama playing with my babies. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and I know now that summer is here, some feel more self conscious than others...but I just want to remind you to take a second and choose to love yourself where you are. My body is not where I want it to be, but it's perfectly fine for me to learn to love it while I get to where I'm going in my health journey. I didn't let it steal my joy today.