How one defines beauty can be closely compared to how one defines love. Each person has an entirely different explanation and a reason for how they define it the way they do. The same can be said of Valentine’s Day…what does today really mean to you? For some, it’s about being with a special someone. For others, it’s about learning to love yourself. In honor of today, we say take a little time out of your day…for no one else but you.
Nerida shares a moment of self love with our readers, Enjoy!
“Being a teenager can be really tough. It doesn’t matter if you have a great home or a mixed up one, if you have issues with your body and, particularly, your face, it’s tricky. This is because, as teens, we don’t have all of the mental and emotional “tools” that we’ve acquired by the time we’ve reached our later years. At that age, how we look on the outside can be much more important to us than who and what we are on the inside.
When I was in my early 20′s, I became very self-conscious of my legs. Even though I worked out constantly, my legs had no shape and I hated them with a passion. The idea of disrobing, even in front of a doctor, was devastating to me. When lipo-suction first came out, I braved asking a doctor what he would do if he were in my shoes. He replied with, “Nerida, you are a very attractive lady. If I were you, I would do everything I could, as I cannot make your legs look any worse than they already are now.” As you can imagine, I felt a hundred times worse than I did when I walked into his office, but, in the end, I decided to go ahead with the procedure. The physical pain I endured during the procedure was nothing compared to what I had suffered inside for so many years…
I share this very personal story with you, because, looking back, it was life-changing. It was one of the best things I ever did for myself. As a woman, I became someone who feels great about her body and who understands the implications of that sensation for others. Are my legs perfect? No, and they never will be. But they are pretty perfect to me. And now, more than twenty-five years later, I can still recall how important that event in my life was.
We must proceed with care and caution and always think long-term. As my own experience illustrates, we must consider the mental benefits of our work as well as the physical, and only then can we learn to love ourselves.”
[image via]