You Don't Like What?!

When I was young, I was tall, lanky, and, as my mother would put it, "I had arms and legs going everywhere." During that time, I didn’t like my body. I am still tall, lanky, and have arms and legs going everywhere, but I have come to LOVE my entire body but especially one part… my legs. *SMILE*

I know… you might be thinking, “Why does she like her OWN legs?” or “Isn’t that a guy thing?” Well, here is my answer to both of these questions:

All too often, we wait for someone else (usually from the opposite sex) to compliment us on something. It could be our hair, what we are wearing, how we smell, blah, blah, blah. However, my experience has been that if you are waiting on the compliment or are fishing for it, you may not get it. That doesn’t mean that the other person doesn’t think you don’t look good (in some cases it can…), it just means that they don’t notice what we want them to notice. And that’s okay.

For example, I get my nails done religiously. Yes, I am that person. *LOL* One day (a few years back), my nails were looking fierce (that’s right, FIERCE) and I asked my partner if he liked them. His response was bland, “They’re alright.” THEY’RE ALRIGHT?! So, this turned into a ten-minute discussion (small argument) about how he doesn’t really care about my nails as long as they make me happy. WTF?!

When I had a moment to think about this interaction (and calm down) I realized that while I want to look good for my partner, he already thinks that I do. If I was wearing a trash bag (with FIERCE nails), he would still think I looked fine. *LOL* I realized that I need to look good for myself… whatever I decide that is.

So…. about three years ago, I started running for my health (long story which I will share in a later post). Now that I run for my health AND as a hobby, I noticed that my body began to change, particularly my legs. From the consistent training/running, my legs have taken on a shape of their own. A shape that, in my eyes is simply gorgeous! I look down at my own legs and think, “Where did these beautiful legs come from? I’ve never had these before!” Then, I started to wear more skirts and dresses to show them off. Again, not because I was fishing for compliments, but because I think they look beautiful and want the whole world to see.

RUNNING BACK AROUND

So, back to answering the questions of, "Why?" Because, as I mentioned before, we sit around and wait for folks to tell us we look good. We wait for that person who we are crushing on to say something positive about some aspect of our body and when they don’t, our whole lives go tumbling down the drain. Well, I have made the decision that I’m not going to wait for ANYONE to tell me that any part of me looks good! If I like it, then it looks FANTASTIC to me!

If there is something you don’t like about your body, CHANGE IT. Do not let someone make you feel bad about you.

Take charge of you.

Love yourself.

I just started with my long elegant legs…

**Side note: My partner recently complimented me on my legs. Because his compliments are few and far between, the world did stop. *LOL* However, my response was great; petty but awesome nonetheless. I responded with “Thank you… but I know…" *WINK*