Perfectly ©

Part of love is loving yourself. How will you ever love someone else if you cannot love who you are? I've said here recently that for a large portion of my life I wanted to be something else. One of my greatest breakthroughs came when I released that.  But I have to affirm myself each and every day in order not to revert back to that way of thinking.
Everywhere I look, there's an image that is in stark contrast to who I am. If you look at these images long enough, you will surely feel less than. However, if you instead choose to look around you at the women you work or shop with, and with whom you have friendships with; If you are honest about what you see, you will understand that these images are not the truth for the vast majority of women. Or you! Are some of us overweight and unhealthy? Yes. But my full hips and the cellulite that is on my thighs does not condemn me to live a life that is less fulfilling. I am meant to be happy no matter.
I think that is why so many women embrace Michelle Obama. It's not just that she is black. It's that we finally see a woman who looks more like who we are. And by we, I mean all women, not just women of color.
It's time to find something - just one thing that you love about you physically, and embrace and affirm it fully.  Start small. Dr. Martin Luther King said take the first step - you don't have to see the whole staircase. Take the first step toward you. Love yourself. For you were made perfectly....

I appreciate my body
despite all the things that appear wrong
For they are only wrong to me
Because, honestly
God made me perfectly
I'm not the images that I see on TV
I'm not displayed on or in magazines
My hips are full
My breasts are small
But, God made me perfectly
I am overweight by society's standards
I'm certainly not tall at all
But God, I have to thank you
Right here and now
For heavenly Father, you made me, perfectly
There are people without limbs
There are people without sound or sight
How humble I am to know
So many things could be wrong
But God, you made me perfectly
I've had my eyes cast downward
I've focused on an earthly prize
I must look up
Feel richly blessed by God
Each and everyday
God, you did it, you made me perfectly
I may never win a beauty contest
I am certainly not a perfect ten
But I have a wonderful circle of friends
I have a man who is crazy about me and loves me as is
And best of all, I have God's love
And to him, I am made ~ Perfectly....