We all know as we age our bodies change significantly. Whether we gain or lose in our forties we fight the loss of elasticity and tone that takes place as collagen decreases. As they say gravity works! Add on peri-menopause and decreased metabolism, loss of estrogen, whoo hoo, makes for a great time. :)
Being bombarded with images of what is beautiful, sexy and youthful can often overwhelm us. If we compare ourselves with the twenty somethings we will always measure up short. Some things you can't get back, youth is one of them. I have my daily battles but overall I feel pretty good about the way I look. There are days when my partner who is a photographer is shooting a young beautiful woman I often look in the mirror and say, "Geeeeeeeeez" . And I might feel down for a little while about aging and my body image. But when I really think about my life would I want to be twenty again? Hell yeah! Oh but only if I could take all this wisdom back with me. Just for laughs: A much younger classmate said to me while giving a massage, you don't have any fat up here (speaking of my buttucks) its all down here. I said, "Yup honey gravity works, take care of it now if you want it to look good later."
To me body image is a very important part of who we are. How we view ourselves can have an impact on our general outlook on life. If we feel attractive then we are more apt to be attractive to others. About 3 years ago I lost a bunch of weight, felt great and had a great partner who made me feel attractive. So my personality exuded friendliness, happiness and yes sexuality. It was very eye opening to me to see how people reacted to the change in my personality. Kind of like the old adage, " I think, therefore I am."
Here is my way of combating poor body image:
Start by telling yourself something positive about your appearance every day while looking in the mirror.
If you are feeling really down, put on a dress, do your make up, go out and do something.
Getting my hair done is another sure way to make me feel better about my appearance.
I like who I am, the person I have become from my life experiences and look forward to growing even more. I like to share what wisdom I've gleaned with other women.
Thanks for reading,
Share your pearls of wisdom on body image by posting a comment.
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About Me
- Antonia
- I enjoy being outside in nature and taking in all of its' beauty. I thought it would be fun to share some of the photos my friends and I take on our journeys.
4 comments:
One sure thing about image/Body image is : Attitude. Attitude is the trump card, that so many women could play. When young, we tend to play on our youthful good looks, but a gal of any age who has a good Self-image and has a Great Attitude to boot: She gets what she wants!
Youthful good looks are easy to play, having a great attitude and a good self image when you are not young and beautiful takes some work. I don't think, "She gets what she wants," necessarily, but often knows what she wants which is a big plus.
The mistake I made in my forties was to get a boob job. I started not feeling good about my self and thought that would help. It did for a while until my husband at the time said your butt is flat. I responded by saying that is what happens when you get older.
Now finally I am getting better about aging I don't like it but I am accepting it!
Thanks for replying.
I noticed you said husband at the time. I had one too, I said, " I would love to be able to wear my hair like Sinéad O'Connor." He said, "You have to have a pretty face for that." Comments like this can often diminish or crush our self esteem instantly.
I don't enjoy aging when it comes to the physical aspects. The wisdom that comes with it I do enjoy. I have thought about a boob job since I lost so much weight and went from a C cup to and A cup. Just can't get past the idea of someone cutting on me.
I remind myself often that I have a long way to go with aging, I am 45, how is it going to feel at 80 when I look in the mirror. I think that is one of the reasons it is so important to come to terms with aging, the changes that occur in our bodies and realize they are natural. We might could slow them, but as of yet no way to stop them.
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