"I can't believe
you used that picture!"
"What? It's a
good picture."
"I look like an
old lady. You can see all my wrinkles and I'm about 15 pounds heavier there
than I am now..."
***
Why do we do this? Seriously, why are we women so hard on
ourselves? Yes, I realize men are hard on themselves as well, but how often do
you hear a man gripe about a pictures someone posted of him on Facebook? We
women do it all the time and I am just as guilty of it as any of my friends.
I told y'all of my craamazing weekend, and it was crazy
amazing. I won 2 second place awards at OWFI and got up in front of a sold out crowd of
400 people to read for Listen to Your Mother. I was walking on cloud nine, then
the pictures started getting posted of the weekend's events, and I fell.
Actual text to my bestie: As I look at all the photos from this weekend I realize I need to work
on my arms... like a lot.
It makes me sick to think that of all the wonderful things
that happened this weekend, I'm dwelling on the fact I don't have Michelle
Obama's arms (politics aside, the woman has fantastic arms). Why? Do my
"fat arms" make my wins any less of a win? Let me check my
certificate: Nope, I still won second in both categories, "fat arms"
and all.
Let's see, were the people in the audience of Listen to Your
Mother saying to their neighbor, "Her piece would've been so much better
if she had Michelle Obama's arms"?
I'm gonna go with no.
Are there things I need to work on? Of course, but not for
vanity sake, for health reasons. But as I work on those things, it doesn't make
me a lesser person for still having those flaws. We all have things we want to
change, but we are ALL beautiful just the way we are.
We are our own worst critics, so stand tall and get up in
front of that sold out crowd of 400, or wear that bathing suit to the lake, and
smile in every damn picture you take, because you are BEAUTIFUL. You are
FIERCE. And you are AMAZING, "fat arms" and all.