I say it’s time to stop making women feeling inadequate because of their physical appearance; we have so much more to offer. Every day I wake up and I go though the day thinking about how can I get to the next level in my career, how can I be a better person, how can I get closer to achieving my goals in life, how can I have a stronger relationship with God, how can I change the world…not how am I going to get rid of the cellulite on my thighs, doesn’t that sound insignificant in the big picture? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a diva, my appearance is important to me, however I don’t compare myself to unrealistic images in magazines and then down myself for not living up to them, that’s just a form of self-sabotage, the people in the magazines don’t even look that perfect in real life.

My mother told me at a young age; I was smart and beautiful and if anyone had anything negative to say to ignore them. That simple, but powerful, statement has followed me though adulthood. I don’t allow negativity to consume me; it just wastes time and energy. Whatever size you are, you can never be totally happy until you learn to love yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are a size 2 or 22, there is something beautiful and special about you. Even if you aren’t at the place you want to be, you should still take pride in yourself as you are in this moment as you work toward your desired goal. When you are at peace with yourself, it’s like a burden lifted off of your shoulders. It’s mentally freeing yourself from the harmful and negative thoughts that are holding you back from self acceptance.

As for me, I’ll never be a size 2 nor do I have the desire to be, I love myself just the way I am. I walk with my head held high, with pride and confidence in myself as a person. I am far from perfect, but I don’t obsess over my imperfections. My imperfections make me who I am, which is perfect to me.

When I feel like I’m not looking my best on a certain day I attribute to not putting enough time into my outfit because a lack of time or interest, maybe I should have put a little make-up on because I’m looking too plain, maybe I need to go to the salon and get my hair done….all of those things I can easily fix and go back to being flawless J I never go as far as thinking there is something wrong with me and I’m not beautiful or worthy.  I know that has a lot to do with the confidence that was instilled in me growing up.  So when women  tell me they wish they were confident like me or ask what can they do to feel better about themselves, I don’t have the magic formula, I don’t have a time machine that can take you back to ten years old to tell you that you are smart and beautiful as my mom did for me.  But all hope is not lost and it’s never too late to start loving yourself!

So I’ve been spending the last 5 years of my live dedicated to empowering women to love their bodies as they are. It all started when I entered a beauty pageant and chose promoting “Positive Body Image” as my platform.  What started off as something to promote out of an obligation became a passion which has been a fun and fulfilling journey.  Promoting my platform transformed into me being a love your body spokesperson and now we are coming to phase 3 with the positivity plus blog. So while surfing the net if you are bombarded with unrealistic images of beauty, 101 products to give you the perfect body, and how to lose 99 pounds in 2 days…..alas your oasis awaits…enjoyJ