Learning to Love the Skin You're In

Hi everyone! My name is Maegen; I am a friend of Liz's, and I am guest posting for her today since she is out of town on business. 

Have you ever thought if you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self? It’s something I think about all the time.  I wish I could tell myself to be more self-accepting at a younger age.

Even now at the age of 26, I’m learning it’s not all a competition. Your self worth is not judged by physical beauty, even though if you would of asked me that 5 years ago I most certainly would have had a different answer.

When I was a young girl, let’s say even at the age of 12, I was already flipping through magazines comparing myself to the grown women in them. I had brown eyes and brown hair, but how I longed to be a blue eyed blonde haired beauty. Even at that young age, I remember being set on undergoing surgery if needed to get the body I wanted.

I thought if I had an enviable body, then I’d be happy. I don’t regret any of the choices I made, but it has taken some growing up for me to realize that real beauty is not on the outside- and this is something I hope to help other young girls with.

Everyday we are inundated with sexy images- women’s bodies are sexualized in the media and many young girls and women think that is how they should look like in order to be happy.

I’ve done it all- I’ve done swimsuit modeling, promotional modeling, swimsuit contests, NPC bikini competitions- things I never thought I would have been able to do. And many people thought that was glamorous.  Now I have nothing against anyone leading a healthy lifestyle and looking to be fit and healthy, I’m just saying it could be problematic if your mind is not in the right place to begin with.

Throughout my “modeling” career, I judged my self-worth based on how I looked. If I was in a swimsuit competition and didn’t place, I would wonder what they other girls had that I didn’t. Was it because they were skinner? Was it because she was prettier? What was I even doing here?

Those thoughts are never good and do more damage than anything. As I have gotten older, I saw what this type of behavior was doing to me. By leaving it all behind, I have been able to learn who I really am and what I really want to be known for.

No matter what I did that I thought would make me feel better, such as lose weight, fix my hear, buy the best make up, even some plastic surgery- It was only temporary. There was always something else I wanted to fix..until I finally tried to let it go.

Am I completely over this way of thinking? Of course not, but I’m getting better.  Instead of focusing on competitions involving looks, I’ve now vowed to be run a race every month. I’m aiming towards a half marathon sometime this year.

If I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, I would tell her that what you see in the magazines and in on TV isn’t reality. Reality is what you can do for yourself and how you gain happiness in other ways- even if it’s just the small things. Travel as most as you can- do things you never thought you would- set goals- be happy.

For more information and post on topics impacting young girls and women today, follow my blog at www.creatingconfidencetoday.com.