Good to your "self" - Week Three: Embrace

Well, we are three weeks into this body series Be Good to Your "Self" project, where we are talking about what we love or appreciate about ourselves. The first week was Engage, where we talked about our best facial feature, the second week was Enjoy, where we talked about our best body feature. This week is along the theme of acceptance and appreciation, but it's about the thing we are pushing against, our flaws.

I know, how can talking about flaws be positive? Well, it's all about perspective. We can talk about positive things in negative ways and make the whole conversation negative, it's all about structure and wording. I have flaws, just like everyone else. I see them every time I look in the mirror. I know exactly where they are and my eyes go to that point every time I go in front of the mirror. It's like my sub-conscious is keeping tabs on them to make sure I'm reminded. "Is it still there? Oh yep, right where it was before." Yes, they are still there but you know what happens? I leave my place in front of the mirror and get on with my life.

Yes, life still goes on even though I have flaws and everyone can see them! I'll wait and let you process that for a second, go ahead, I'm patient.

Good to your "self" - Week one: Engage

Today is the first of the four installments of the Be Good to Your "Self" project where I want us to explore the wonderful things that make each of us unique and perfectly us. When I was thinking about this idea, I wanted to concentrate on aspects of our bodies and our personalities and four words kept cycling through my head - engage, enjoy, embrace, empower. Not only are they all "E" words (remarkably) but they all have positive meanings to them, no negativity. That's what I wanted to promote in this whole dialogue, even when we talk about something we don't like, I want you (and me!) to talk about it in a positive light. More on that later.

So today we will talk about the first of the four words that will be the theme of each of the posts, engage. By definition, engage means: occupy, attract, or involve (someone's interest or attention). When we enter a room with people in it, what is the first thing we look at? Their face and surrounding area. That information will give you a quick read on the "climate" of the situation you are walking into because our faces show our emotions and those signs can advise you how to approach those situations. So if you walk into a room with people smiling and conversing in a lively way, it feels more welcoming and light-hearted giving you the feeling of comfort where you can engage with people. Whereas if you walk into a room with people scowling, not talking to each other or making eye contact, you feel a lot more defensive and are less likely to make the effort to engage with those around you.