Image Overload

I've been contemplating recently the ideology of BEING ENOUGH.  When we value ourselves enough to say, "you know what, I like me.  In fact, I LOVE me!"  

There is too much pressure to be more.  To be thinner, stronger, smarter, happier, better, faster....lining our self-worth up with these adjectives.  Social media does this the best, doesn't it?  Life is grand, here's a happy place, look at me....  I'm sure I've been guilty of this a few times, but I also know I try and keep things REAL, sometimes too much so.  Don't get me wrong, I love the sneak peek into people's lives.  It's when I hear, "I hate ______ because it just makes me feel like crap about myself" that I wonder how it is we get to a place where we allow our self-worth to be discounted merely by a picture or a few words.

I've been trying to teach this life lesson to one of my children recently - explaining that his/her self-worth does not come from the opinion someone else has of him/her, but the belief that he/she has value because of WHO he/she is as a person.  Yet how easy is it to feel "less" when we're treated as less, instead of standing tall and saying, "You know what, I like me, and I believe in me."

I take a workout class to become THAT much stronger, THAT much thinner, and THAT much healthier.  Confession time -  I still struggle with my own body image.  The stretch marks, the saggy skin, the cellulite; the belief that everyone stares at my birthmark, or that my face is too long, my chest is too small, my butt is too flat - when and where does it all stop?  I see images on social media of women's flat abs, sculpted arms, smooth skin (even AFTER having babies!) - real people, not air-brushed images.  And I, too, have to walk away from it all.

What I remind myself (on a DAILY basis) are these things:
1.  My stretch marks mean that my body has been through incredible feats to reach both ends of the spectrum
2.  My saggy skin means that I've spent many years on this earth with the hope of many more
3. My cellulite means that I've enjoyed sharing good food with great people whom I love
4. My birthmark is God's way of branding me special
5. My physical features are LOVED by my HUSBAND!!  I don't need affirmation from other people posting that I'm "hot" or "sexy" or "looking good".

Some may be thinking I'm being hypocritical because I sell a product that (I think) has the (unfortunate) name of Slim, that I market this product for the purpose of weight loss and having those great BEFORE/AFTER pictures.  Truth be told, I struggle with the name and the implication that it tells us "we are not enough - you must be THAT much thinner to be happy."  What if I were to say that it's caused me to not lose one pound? I've kept my stretch marks, saggy skin, cellulite, yet have achieved a level of health I haven't seen in a long time.  A healthier me at any size is better than a thinner me struggling with my health and image.  I've started repeating the above 5 lines of "mantra' when I feel like my belief in myself starts waning.

From the wise words of Saturday Night Live - "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and Dammit, people like me."