Miss Piggy has the Right Idea: Body Image and Complements

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.” ~ Miss Piggy

I'm not gonna lie... loving the shape I'm in is sometimes difficult. It's easy to think it's easier for someone else... but really, no one's body or life is perfect. I've got a big bum... she get's in the way... she makes it impossible for me to wear pencil skirts, I knock things over with her, skinny jeans are a challenge cause that pooch thing in the back happens... but... I must say... my waist is usually kickin! Women with love handles envy my waist... and usually, I envy their thighs... but if I had their thighs on the end of this butt, it would look even more weird... so... my bum and I learn to love each other. 

I love that no matter how much I run or do squats and lunges, she will get harder, but not smaller... 

I love that I can salsa like a latina because I got junk in my trunk... 

I love that a whole slew of music has been dedicated to women with bums: Fat Bottomed Girls, Shake your Booty, Bootylicious, Baby Got Back, My Humps, Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, etc. etc. 

I love that my shoulder bag bumps my bum to the rhythm of my ipod and I can watch men watching my bag bump, bump, bumping along the sidewalk... 

Body image is difficult because it's not just your body, but how you feel about your body... 

This disturbing and yet helpful article shows me that other women care about this... 

One thing Zooey Deschanel always goes on about is complimenting other girls... not seeing each other as competition, but as loving each other and respecting each other. And I completely agree... 

I try to compliment the women I work with a few times a week. Not in an annoying, fake way... but I actually try to open my eyes and notice when they have new jewellery or have cut their hair or are wearing new shoes or something. I try to remember their birthdays and what things make them uncomfortable and how they take their coffee and food allergies... 

I think if we all took a step back and ignored the magazines and just looked at each other... really looked at each other... things might be different. It's like when people who have known me for ages finally notice that I have green eyes... I just think "Where have you been looking for the past year or so?" 

One thing the article really made me worry about was the idea of being sexy... the concept that you have to look like Kim Kardashian to be sexy... or that men won't want you... that's ridiculous... men watch my bump bump bump on the way home from the gym in sweats... men watch my bump bump bump in jeans and flip flops laden with groceries... men watch the sway of my knee-length skirt as I run for the bus... Sexy doesn't have to be all boobs out and pouty lips and eye-liner... sexiness can be knowing who you are, your confidence, your self love, and knowing where you're going. Sexiness is looking people in the eye, meaning what you say, and standing your ground... for men too... 

Don't get me wrong, I want to be healthy and take care of myself... but I think that going to the gym and taking some classes and heading out for a run is a bit different than sculpting my thighs so I can look like Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider movies... (which, btw, I would LOVE to have her thighs)... but who has the time for that!? 

I love it when celebs like Gwen Stefani and Angelina come out and admit how friggin hard they work to keep their bodies as tough and solid as they are... Sorry girls, but I don't have the time or money for 4 hour training sessions...

I would hate for one of my main ambitions in life to have someone else's muscular thighs... which... btw, she totes knows about herself, flashing them off... 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Francis Chan is a genius: “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.” 

Does it matter if I cannot rock a pencil skirt? Nope... I can rock those adorable swing skirts! 

Does it matter if I knock stuff over with my butt on a semi-regular basis? Only for the comedic relief... 

One thing I think does matter is encouraging and loving each other... it builds trust and community. It brightens someone's day. It shows you care and they matter. 

So... go out and notice something positive and complement someone ;) It'll make you sexy...