I want every woman I know to read this!
For the longest time I shied away from photos. I thought of myself as imperfect, unattractive. I hated my nose, my teeth, my hair. Aside from breaking my nose (again) and getting it fixed, nothing about my face has changed. My face is still the same face. My smile is still the same smile. But I look at myself in the mirror and say, “Hi, beautiful!” even on my bad days.
What’s the difference? I learned to celebrate myself. I gave myself permission to be okay with the way I looked.
Do you know how much money is made every year from making us hate the way we look? And how many opportunities are lost because we, as women, have our confidence eroded based SOLELY on the way we look.
I remember going to my first photo conference and thinking, wow, I would love to present at a conference like this some day … BUT! These women are all prettier than me. They probably wouldn’t let me do this.
There was a time when I literally could not even go shopping because I thought I would be judged when I walked in a store.
All that seems ridiculous now. But it sure wasn’t then. And it cost me a lot of time in pursuing my dreams. So for my younger women friends, don’t be like me! Do it! Assume that the world will say yes to you! And if they don’t, then quit thinking you are the one with the deficit, and that you need to change. Make the world change for you.