What Defines Beauty

It's been an amazing day so far. Woke up late (like 6 instead of 5 lol), skipped the gym, had a long quiet time reading and reflecting, met with a client, and then went on a walk that turned into a longer walk than I intended...but the time to process and think just kept me walking.

I was looking around me, listening to a podcast but still trying to pay attention to all the beauty that surrounded me as I walked the trail near my apartment. And I was thinking...what defines beauty?

I love spending time in nature. It is outdoors that I really feel most myself and most alive! And I love the lessons that nature can teach us if we pay attention.

So this concept of beauty kept coming up as I was walking, and the question I kept asking was, what really makes something or someone beautiful?Here's some things I discovered...

I look around in nature and marvel at its beauty...but flowers and mountains and evergreens do nothing on their own to enhance their beauty. They just are (beautiful).

and...Beauty and health in nature is apparent when something stands up tall. Not when things are wilted or droopy. 

Ok, let's dig into this because this is deep, in my opinion.

Beauty isn't something you have to work for.

You see, I talk to and witness so many women who don't feel beautiful and don't believe in their own beauty. They feel that only when they reach a certain size or wear certain clothes or do their make up a certain way...only then they are beautiful.

But that couldn't be farther from the truth!

Believing that beauty is something you have to work at to attain is like saying that a flower has to work to attain its beauty. You are beautiful in the here and now. Not when you lose 25 pounds, or 50 pounds, or 100 pounds.

So much of having a healthy relationship with food begins with truly believing your worth as a human being and also your beauty. We WANT to take care of something we believe is beautiful. We WANT to eat well and exercise and enjoy time with friends and build relationships when we feel good in our skin.

And feeling good in your skin is not depended on size. That's a fact.Yes, there are things you can do like wear pretty clothes or put makeup on that may help bring out your beauty. But those things aren't what make you beautiful. You're already beautiful without having to do anything. 

A confident woman is a beautiful woman.

Think about this with me...when you look at a woman standing tall, smiling, and speaking confidently about themselves, isn't that beautiful! No matter what size a person is, if they're able to put away negative feelings about themselves and embrace beauty from within, THAT is what makes them beautiful.

A confident woman is beautiful. Again, size is not what defines beauty.

Confidence is something each of us can practice. And it does take practice! It takes practice and it takes a whole lotta grace.

Confidence is one of the things I help clients with. Because when you're first confident in your body, then you'll be able to put away negative thoughts about food or things people have told you about yourself and what you should or shouldn't eat and truly be able to listen to your own body. Confidence in your skin leads to confidence in your food choices and vice- versa.

Accept your beauty.

Know that you don't have to be the most beautiful person in the world (what pressure!) to be beautiful. I speak confidently that you are beautiful even though I don't know each of you reading this. But each and every one of us has beauty just as we are. You don't have to look like everyone else or wear what everyone else is wearing or be the same shape as everyone else (news flash...we all have different bodies and that's what makes life interesting and makes us unique) to be beautiful. And sadly, one of the hardest things to do is just accept our own beauty.

I've struggled with feeling beautiful. I've spent a while being afraid to wear clothes that fit my body because I was ashamed of weight I'd gained during recovery from disordered eating. I've been, and still do feel, embarrassed to go out of the house without makeup on because I'm not a huge fan of my skin. But I just remind myself...my beauty is not in the makeup I wear or the clothes I wear or what my face or body look like. My beauty comes from being confident in who I am, as me.

So, something I've been practicing little by little lately is doing things to help me with accepting my natural beauty. The biggest of these for me right now is going out of the ouse without makeup on. Even venturing to going to work with just a small amount of makeup on. My skin has been something I've been self conscious of. I have freckles and splotchy redness on my face. I have dark circles under my eyes no matter how much sleep I get!

But, one of my goals for 2018 has been to do things to take care of my skin so that I don't feel the need to put makeup on all the time. It's a work in progress for me. I still feel a little less confident without makeup on. But I'm working on it! And like I said, confidence takes practice. But embracing your beauty right now as you are is a choice. 

I want to hear from you!

How do you stay true to your unique beauty?Do you struggle with feeling beautiful as you are?