I Feel Pretty

How do you feel today?  Do you feel pretty? Or did reading this title immediately make you think of a list of “problems” you wish you could change about yourself? Maybe you didn’t do hair or make-up today.  Maybe you wish you could lose some weight.  Maybe you think that no matter how hard you try, you could never feel pretty or you’ll never be as good as the “cool girls”.

I just watched the movie “I Feel Pretty” and I am IN LOVE!! It’s such a great movie with a great message!  It starts with this character, Renee (Amy Schumer) who is dealing with a lot of insecurities, especially body image and beauty concerns.  She painfully tries to hide herself and is embarrassed by anything that calls attention to her body-including her shoe size.  Then she makes a wish to be beautiful, hits her head, and when she looks in the mirror something magical happens and she sees herself as the most beautiful woman in the world.  The only thing is, she hasn’t changed at all; from the outside, her physical appearance is exactly the same.  But now she walks through life with new confidence believing she is the most beautiful woman in the world.   She has the confidence to flirt and to apply for her dream job, and so on.  With that level of confidence and self-love, she is un-phased by the reactions of those around her and being herself actually changes the way those around her behave as well.  Obviously the movie has more twists and turns-and great character development so I won’t spoil the whole thing but I highly recommend it!!

Worthy Now

So what would you do if you believed that you were the most beautiful woman in the world? Who would you reach out to? What goals would you go after? Can you imagine how freeing it could be if you no longer felt the need to hide? This is at the heart of Worthy Now.  Brené Brown, social worker and researcher, says that we often give ourselves this long list of prerequisites for worthiness.  I’ll be worthy when I’m beautiful.  When I lose weight.  When I get married/have kids/have perfect kids/etc.  We think we can finally let ourselves be seen and go for our goals or have intimate relationships once those prerequisites are met.  But through her research, she has shown that the ONLY difference between those who feel worthy of love and belonging and those who don’t is the fact that this group BELIEVES they are worthy of love and belonging.  “Worthy now. Not if. Not when. We are worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.” This belief changes everything.  When we believe we are worthy now, we have more courage to show up and be seen.  We are vulnerable and take chances. We let ourselves shoot for the stars and even if we fall flat on our face, we know that we are still worthy of love and belonging.

What’s holding you back? If shame is running your life and telling you that you should hide and make yourself small this will not magically change overnight.  But you can take back the reigns and love yourself exactly as you are right now.  You may still make goals to change certain things, but you will learn that your worthiness is not dependent on those changes.  You are a child of God and a divine person who is worthy right this minute.