I wish we would stop doing this.

I was recently flipping through my Facebook and happened upon a picture of an old high school friend. I thought, “Wow! She’s even more beautiful than I remember.”

I really admired and looked up to her way back when. She is a couple of years older than me and was a good friend of my sister’s. She was the captain of our track team. She was smart. She was bold. She was beautiful. She had a way of making me and the other girls on the team feel welcome. She was definitely a leader and had a great sense of humor. And her laugh…I can just hear it now. She had the kind of laugh that made you laugh. Right now, as I write, I feel all warm and happy and joyful just thinking about my friend, M.

As I scrolled through the comments on her FB feed, I saw all the wonderful things people had written…gorgeous, lookin’ good, you’re so pretty, and beautiful.

Then, my reading of the comments came to a screeching halt when I read M’s response, “need some BoTox to fill in the lines! Sucks getting old.”

I was saddened when I saw this. This is what I witness, all too frequently, when I’m working with a woman. Typically, she looks in the mirror and immediately points out what she doesn’t like about her body.

Stop. This is what I want to say. Just stop.

Can we just stop criticizing our bodies?

"Constantly worrying about your reflection and criticizing your body, shape and size is an act of violence against yourself." - Emma Thompson

I know it’s hard. As women, we are constantly bombarded with what’s wrong with our bodies and what we need to fix. In fact, even the formidable, amazing, extremely talented, did I say amazing? gold medal Olympic Champion, Gabby Douglas, is no stranger to criticism. As she has been viciously attacked and criticized about her appearance. Really?! This just has to stop. It stops when we stop criticizing ourselves and it stops when we take a stand for other women and say enough is enough.

So, the next time you look in the mirror try to appreciate what makes you the unique and wonderful human being that you are.

Appreciating yourself is sexy.
Adrienne

PS: Dear Gabby Douglas: For what’s it’s worth, I adore you. Your smile warms my heart. Your talent inspires me and your years of hard work and dedication entertained me.